DUBAI: Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is in the final stages of acquiring Credit Suisse's headquarters in London and may sign the deal in a few weeks, two sources familiar with the matter said. "They're working out the details now. It's a matter of a few weeks," one of the sources said, adding that the QIA would pay 330m pounds ($517m) for the property, with a separate leaseback agreement to be put in place with Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse declined to comment and Qatar Investment Authority was not reachable. UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph had said earlier that the QIA had placed 1 Cabot Square in Canary Wharf under offer in the sale-and-leaseback deal with the Swiss bank. QIA holds a 6-percent stake in Credit Suisse and owns shares in Songbird, the majority owner of Canary Wharf Group. Qatar has agreed other high-profile investments in London, including the U.S. embassy in Grosvenor Square and Harrods department store.
Qatar to spend $25bn on expanding petrochemical industry: Official
DOHA: Qatar plans to spend $25bn on expanding its domestic petrochemical industry over the next decade, an official said yesterday. Qatar News Agency cited the Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada as saying earlier this month that the country planned to more than double its annual petrochemical production capacity from 9.2 million tonnes now to 23 million tonnes by 2020. "In the hydrocarbon area, we are now focusing on petrochemicals," Abdulrahman Al Shaibi, Managing Director of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority, said. "We will spend $25bn on creating additional petrochemical industries as an important feedstock for small and medium-sized companies." Qatar has become the world's biggest LNG exporter over the last decade but has imposed a moratorium on further export development of Qatar's huge North Field, the source of its massive gas reserves, until 2014. LNG output is largely fixed at 77 million tonnes per annum until 2015 at the earliest, although the plans to remove bottlenecks from existing facilities may boost production. In December Qatar signed a deal with Royal Dutch Shell to develop a $6.4bn petrochemicals complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City. The plant will have the capacity to produce 1.5 million tonnes of mono-ethylene glycol per year and 300,000 tonnes of linear alpha olefin.
Masraf Al Rayan net profit rises 16.3 percent to QR1.4bn
DOHA: Masraf Al Rayan has posted a net profit of over QR1.4bn in 2011, up 16.3 percent over 2010. The Shariah-compliant bank's net profit in 2010 was QR1.21bn. The board of directors of Masraf Al Rayan approved the financial statements of the bank for the financial year ending December 31, 2011. The bank's assets stood at QR55.27bn at the end of last year, up 59.4 percent from a year earlier. Customer deposits increased by 71.2 percent to QR46.26bn at the end of 2011. The board has proposed a 0.50 riyals per share dividend for the second half of 2011, taking the full-year amount to 1.10 riyals per share. Dr. Hussain Ali Al Abdulla, Chairman and Managing Director of Masraf Al Rayan, expressed his satisfaction with the results achieved, especially as these results were achieved under the fluctuations and crises experienced by the global financial markets and looks forward to achieving better results in the coming years. Adel Mustafawi, Group CEO of Masraf Al Rayan said that the growth was the result of the prudent policies developed by the Board of Directors, and the great efforts made by the team at Masraf Al Rayan. The Board of Directors has invited the shareholders to attend the AGM, which will be held on March 6.
© The Peninsula 2012
