NBQ profit falls 23% to Dh77.63m

National Bank of Umm Al Quwain (NBQ) experienced a 23 per cent decline in profits to Dh77.63 million in the first quarter of this year, down from Dh100.11 million in the same quarter of 2010, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The bank's gross income fell to Dh145.68 million from Dh160.88 million in the previous period. Its assets stood at Dh13.14 billion, down from Dh13.23 billion. However, its total liabilities remained flat at Dh10 billion, almost the same as in the first quarter of 2010.

Hochtief

German construction company Hochtief AG said yesterday the Qatar Investment Authority and Qatar Holding LLC informed the company on March 23 that they want to increase their voting rights in Hochtief in the next 12 months.

Julphar

Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) reported a 16 per cent increase in first-quarter profit to Dh52.8 million from the year-ago quarter, according to a statement to the Abu Dhabi bourse yesterday. The company's total non-current assets stood at Dh1.18 billion while total assets reached Dh2.14 billion as of March 31, 2011. Julphar's sales revenue reached Dh280 million, up from Dh245 million in the first quarter of 2010.

Batelco

Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco) on Wednesday posted a bet profit of 17.5 million Bahraini dinars ($46.3 million-Dh170 million) compared to 25.1 million dinars a year ago due to losses by the company's Indian joint venture and competition in Bahrain. Batelco's first-quarter net profit fell short of the 21.3 million dinars that analysts at Kuwait's Global Investment House had pencilled in. The result was almost in line with the estimates of Bahrain-based investment bank Sico's estimate of 17 million dinars for the period.

Bank of Beirut

Bank of Beirut yesterday said its first-quarter net profit rose 1.5 per cent to 30.45 billion Lebanese pounds (Dh74.3 million), from 29.98 billion pounds in the year earlier period. Basic earnings per common share rose to 1,581 pounds from 1,524 pounds in the first quarter of 2010, the bank said in a statement. The lender achieved a slight increase in profit as it offset a decline in net interest income and revenues from its trading portfolio, by a growth in net income from financial instruments and from commissions.

QEWC

Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC) which reported earlier yesterday a 47 per cent rise in earnings to 228.1 million Qatari riyals ($62.6 million, Dh229 million), managed strong revenue growth on higher lease income from its power plants, Kuwait's NBK Capital said in a note. "Total revenue reached 922 million riyals, 56 per cent above first quarter 2010, but 5.7 per cent below our forecasts. As expected, lease income from plants was the highest growing segment, increasing from 85.6 million riyals in first quarter 2010 to 243 million riyals in first quarter 2011," NBK said.

Qatar Navigation

Qatar Navigation said yesterday its first-quarter net profit was 262 million Qatari riyals ($71.9 million), down sharply from 771 million riyals in the year earlier period because of one-off gains relating to its merger with Qatar Shipping in 2010. In a statement on the Doha bourse the group said "year over year comparison of net profit is skewed due to one-time, non-cash accounting adjustments in 2010". It added that 298 million riyals was recorded in the first-quarter 2010 as a "gain" from the Qatar Shipping deal and an additional "fair value gain" of 236 million riyals was also booked in the same period due to a previous holding of 15 per cent in Qatar Shipping. Shares in the company last traded down 1.4 per cent at 82.80 riyals in a slightly negative overall market.

Saudi Arabian Airlines

Saudi Arabian Airlines has invited investors for a competitive bidding process to acquire a 30 per cent stake in its aircraft engineering and maintenance division, Jeddah-based Okaz daily reported yesterday. This division has been restructured and registered as an independent company under the name of Saudia Aerospace Engineering Industries.

— Compiled from staff reports