Knightsbridge Branch of Al Rayan Bank Sees Brisk Business Despite
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GT EXCLUSIVE | Page 3 TECH FOCUS | Page 12 Islamic fi nance Wanda set to to boost farm seal $2bn US development fi lm deals Wednesday, August 24, 2016 Dhul-Qa’da 21, 1437 AH GROWTH POTENTIAL: Page 16 GULF TIMES Doha 3rd busiest city for hotel construction BUSINESS in the Middle East Qatar PPI expands in June as global Knightsbridge branch of oil prices rebound By Santhosh V Perumal Business Reporter The rebound in global oil prices appears to have had a positive impact on Qatar, whose producer Al Rayan Bank sees brisk price index (PPI) witnessed a robust upward path in June compared to previous month, according to off icial figures. Higher prices for crude petroleum and natural gas as well as manufactured products such as refined petroleum products and basic metals led Qatar’s PPI for the industrial sector – a measure business despite Brexit of the average selling prices received by the domestic producers for their output – expand otwithstanding the Brexit impact, 6% month-on-month (m-o-m) in June 2016, the Al Rayan Bank’s (UK) Knightsbridge Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics Nbranch has witnessed unprecedented data revealed. growth in the private client business with it However, the overall PPI had seen 25.3% decline opening 600 new accounts ever since its of- year-on-year (y-o-y) in the review month mainly fi cially opened in May last year. on account of weaker price for crude petroleum The opening of new accounts in its fl ag- and natural gas, basic chemicals, refined ship branch has helped it grow the value petroleum products, basic metals and man-made of its private client real estate business by fibres. 173% and the value of its private client lia- The PPI for the mining sector, which carries the bilities increased by more than 140%, a bank maximum weight of 72.7%, saw its group index spokesman said. expand 4% m-o-m in June 2016 on the back of a The Knightsbridge branch provides its 6% increase in the price of crude and natural gas; private banking customers with a high quali- even as prices of stone, sand and clay was down ty, personalised and bespoke banking service 0.1%. and a comprehensive range of Shariah-com- On y-o-y basis, the PPI for mining witnessed pliant fi nancial solutions including residen- the maximum plunge of 30.1% in June this year tial and commercial real estate fi nance as owing to a 30.1% decline in the price of crude well as ‘over the counter’ banking services. petroleum and natural gas; although stone, sand “As expected, our Knightsbridge branch and clay prices firmed up 2%. has become an important hub from where The manufacturing sector, which has a weight of our clients, who are mainly from the GCC 26.8% in the PPI basket, rose 1.3% m-o-m in June (Gulf Cooperation Council) region, are this year owing to an 8.7% jump in the price of basic choosing to carry out their banking require- metals, 7.1% in juices, 2.4% in refined petroleum ments,” Ahmed Rawaf, head of private bank- products, 0.7% in grain mill and other products ing, Al Rayan Bank (UK) said. and 0.4% in other chemical products and man- In just 15 months since it opened, the made fibres. However, the price of basic chemicals branch has welcomed many hundreds of new plunged 3.5%, rubber and plastic products 2.4%, high-net-worth customers and has been an cement and other non-metallic products 1%, engine behind the rapid growth in the bank’s beverages 0.4% and dairy products 0.3%. private client business, he said, adding the The manufacturing sector PPI fell 15.4% y-o-y as branch will continue to quickly respond to basic chemicals price shrank 19.4%, followed by the changing needs of its private banking refined petroleum products (16%), basic metals customers and anticipates that the next year (14.7%), other chemical products and man-made will be equally successful. fibres (5.9%), dairy products (2.8%) and grain The Knightsbridge branch was offi cially mill and other products (0.4%). But, juice prices opened last year by the Qatar’s ambassador hardened 9.1%, followed by cement and other to the UK Yousef Ali al-Khater in an event non-metallic products (6.5%), beverages (2.3%) attended by the boards of directors of Mas- and rubber and plastic products (0.9%). raf Al Rayan and Al Rayan Bank, including, Al Rayan Bank’s Knightsbridge branch in London. In just 15 months since it opened, the branch has welcomed many hundreds of new high net The utilities group, which has a mere 0.5% weight Masraf Al Rayan chairman and managing worth customers and has been an engine behind the rapid growth in the bank’s private client business. in the PPI basket, saw its index tank 5% m-o-m director, Dr Hussain al-Abdulla, group chief in June this year as electricity and water prices executive Adel Mustafawi, Al Rayan Bank Al Rayan Bank is authorised by the Pru- Financial Services Compensation Scheme. branches in London Edgware Road, London fell 6.5% and 2.8% respectively. The index had chairman Robert Sharpe, Al Rayan Bank dential Regulation Authority, regulated by the The Knightsbridge branch is the pinnacle Whitechapel, Birmingham, Manchester and fallen 5.6% y-o-y with water and electricity prices chief executive Sultan Choudhury and Al Financial Conduct Authority and the Pruden- of Al Rayan Bank’s national branch and of- Leicester, as well as offi ces in Luton, Tooting, declining 6.1% and 5.2% respectively. Rayan Bank CCO, Keith Leach. tial Regulation Authority, and is a member of fi ce network. Customers can also access Bradford and Blackburn. Saudi govt selling up to 20bn riyals of bonds to banks The Saudi Arabian government is raising up to 20bn riyals ($5.3bn) from banks in this month’s sale of domestic bonds, financial $34mn Qatar-Korea LED plant to website Maaal reported yesterday. The government began the regular monthly sales in mid-2015 to help cover a budget deficit caused by low oil prices. Since then it has sold 156.6bn riyals of bonds, of which produce 500,000 units annually 70.5bn has come in the first half of this year, Maaal said. The government has informed banks of By Joey Aguilar at providing various training pro- 1980s, Heung said more than August’s allocations, Maaal quoted unnamed Staff Reporter grammes on research and devel- 10 Korean companies are now sources as saying, without specifying how opment for Qataris. actively participating in many large they were. The central bank and finance In addition, he said a Korean projects such as Lusail Express- ministry have not responded to inquiries he $34mn light emitting SME named ‘EPI’ and a Qatari way, Hamad Medical City hospi- about the bond sales. diode (LED) plant, set to company will have a joint ven- tal, Doha Metro, and Umm Haul There are signs that Saudi banks are becom- Tbe built in Qatar soon, will ture to build a plant that will pro- Power and desalination plants. ing less willing or able to buy government produce an initial 500,000 units duce paper construction moulds. Heung believes that building bonds as persistently low oil prices reduce annually, South Korean ambassa- These products can be recycled and operating healthcare, water, the amount of spare cash they have available dor Heung Kyeong Park has said. to save cost and time unlike the and electricity facilities would be for such purchases. Speaking to Gulf Times at the usual (conventional) wood, steel, possible areas of joint coopera- Saudi banks’ holdings of government bonds Korean embassy in Doha yester- or aluminium moulds. tion between the two countries. increased by just 3.1bn riyals month-on- day, the envoy said the Korea- In cooperation with Korean He stressed that Korea and month in June, a slower rise than in previous Qatar LED project is in progress SMEs and a Qatari company, He- Qatar have been “steady part- months, central bank figures show. “with a view of producing LED ung added that a Korean IT com- ners” in the areas of energy co- Bankers say that because the bond off ers lights tailored for the Middle East pany will also participate in the operation and infrastructure are shrouded in secrecy, it is impossible to and North African market” in Doha Metro project. construction. Korea import be sure how much debt the government is co-operation with Korean LED He also said that dozens of one third of its gas consump- selling. Maaal quoted sources as predicting consortium and a Qatari coun- Korean and Qatari companies tion (13mn tonnes annually) and issues in 2016 would total 100bn riyals. In terpart. send representatives annually more than 10% of its oil con- this month’s sale, the government off ered Heung expects the construc- between the two countries to sumption (100mn barrels). five-year bonds at 64 basis points over US tion of the plant to start either at discuss trade and joint ventures. “On the occasion of HH the Treasuries, seven-year bonds at 77 bps over the end of the year or early next “They are expected to expand co- Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha- and 10-year bonds at 91 bps over, Maaal said. year after fi nal talks between the operation in manufacturing and mad al-Thani’s visit to Korea in That is within the pricing ranges off ered in two parties are concluded.