27 August 2016
Doha - An estimated 11 percent Qatari listed companies beat analysts' forecast during the second quarter of 2016 (Q2, 16). Industries Qatar (IQ) and QNB were the key outperformers. IQ posted 2Q16 net income of QR1.27bn (-14 percent YoY) beating estimates by 64 percent, due to stronger performance in the steel and petrochemical segment. QNB reported Q2, 16 profit of QR3.4bn (+16 percent YoY), higher than consensus estimate of QR3.2bn due to the consolidation of two quarters of its recent acquisition (Finansbank), investment bank SICO said.

SICO, which covered 142 GCC companies including 17 listed companies in Qatar, said at least 39 percent of GCC's listed companies missed the estimates while another 39 percent beat the analysts' estimates in Q2. On an aggregate level, GCC companies' profits declined by 6 percent year-on-year.

The aggregate profit of Saudi companies reached SR26.1bn (-12 percent YoY) in Q2, and was slightly below estimates (-1 percent). The miss in earnings was primarily due to Telecoms' earnings, which were lower than estimates by 32 percent. STC reported 2Q16 net income of SR1.87bn vs estimates SR2.47bn due to reduction in Mobile termination rate and finger print verification impacting subscriber's numbers. Mobily also posted lower than expected results at SR19m (vs. estimated SR34m), mainly due to 18.4 percent higher SG&A expenses. On the other side, petrochems outperformed by 32 percent; SABIC's bottom line was down 23 percent YoY at SR4.7bn, but beat expectations by 22 percent, due to better earnings contribution from its three listed subsidiaries.

Yansab's earnings were higher than estimates by 59 percent led by better than expected operating performance and other income.

UAE's overall aggregate profits were at Dh13.2bn vs. Dh12.4bn estimated by analysts. Earnings beat was mainly because of Etisalat's strong Q2, 16 bottom line of Dh2.3bn, which outperformed estimated median by 16 percent, led by strong performance in UAE. Moreover, Banks beat estimates by 4 percent, as ENBD reported Q2, 16 net profit of Dh1.9bn (+16 percent YoY) higher than estimated median of Dh1.8bn, due to 31 percent decline in provisioning charges supported by a loan-loss recovery of Dh497mn. NBAD's 2Q16 bottom line decreased 5 percent YoY at Dh 1.4bn, however it beat estimates by 6 percent on the back of strong fee and FX income reported by the bank.

In Kuwait aggregate profit was 2 percent below estimates at KD222m. Banks contributed to the lower than expected earnings in Kuwait, as NBK missed consensus estimates of KD80m and posted KD72m in 2Q16. CBK reported Q2, 16 net earnings of KD3.7m, down 64 percent YoY and below expected earnings of KD12.7m.

Omani companies' profit reached RO157m (+7 percent YoY), 5 percent above expectations. Omantel outperformed consensus median (RO28.8m) and reported net income of RO32m (+20 percent YoY), led by robust top line growth and lower royalty expense. Also in banks, Bank Muscat posted net income of RO46.7m, higher than expected RO42.6m. 46 percent of Telecoms and 53 percent of Petrochems has beaten estimates. 57 percent of the Real estate and Construction companies reported lower than expected profits.

© The Peninsula 2016