Qatari-listed firms’ earnings increase by 5.6% in Q2

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Doha, Qatar: The total earnings for Qatari-listed companies witnessed an year-on-year (y-o-y) gain of 5.6% during second quarter (Q2) of 2024 to reach $3.35bn as compared to $3.17bn in Q2-2023. The surge in earnings was primarily driven by earnings growth in the Banking, Insurance and Capital Goods.

In terms of first half (H1) 2024 earnings performance, net profits increased by 5.9% to reach $6.9bn as compared to $6.6bn during H1-2023. Earnings growth during the H1-2024 was broad-based and was mainly driven by Banks, Capital Goods, and Insurance companies. Out of fifteen sectors in Qatar Exchange, ten sectors witnessed a y-o-y increase in profits during H1-2024 while the remaining five sectors witnessed declines, Kamco Invest said in its GCC Corporate Earnings report: Q2-2024.

Qatar’s banking sector reported a profit growth of 5.2% in Q2-2024 that reached $1.9bn accounting for 53.4% of the overall exchange profits during the quarter. QNB’s net profit reached $1.02bn in Q2-2024, up 8.6% compared to Q2-2023, driven by higher operating income which increased 5.7% to reach $2.62bn, while net interest income grew by 10% to $2.12bn.

In the telecom sector, Ooredoo reported net profits of $262.9m in Q2-2024 as compared to $228.8m in Q2-2023 up by 14.9%.

Total revenue for the telco increased by 2.2% y-o-y to reach $0.44bn driven by continued growth in the company’s fixed broadband services, managed services, IoT and others. Service revenue also grew by 2.8% to $0.39bn. The total number of mobile customers stood at 2.1 million.

Net profits for the energy sector improved by 7.4% y-o-y to reach $231.3m supported by higher profits reported by Qatar Gas Transport Co. (Nakilat). The company posted a net profit increase of 8% to reach $112.3m in Q2-2024 vs $103.9m in Q2-2023 mainly led by lower operating expenses that was further supported by better topline growth.

Aggregate net profits reported companies listed on GCC exchanges witnessed a healthy y-o-y growth of 5.7% during Q2-2024 led by a broad-based growth across most markets in the region.