Posted inConstructionConstruction

Industries Qatar 2009 profit slumps by a third

Net income dropped to QR4.9bn ($1.4bn) from QR7.3bn riyals a year earlier, company said.

Industries Qatar, the largest publicly traded company in the Gulf emirate, said full-year profit fell by a third.

Net income dropped to QR4.9bn ($1.4bn), or 8.86 riyals per share, from QR7.3bn riyals, or 13.23 riyals per share, a year earlier, the Doha-based company said today in a stock exchange statement. That beat the QR4.87bn average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Industries Qatar has benefited from higher prices for ammonia and ethylene and a recovery in demand for chemicals as economies return to growth after the worst global slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

“The pricing environment has been better in quarter four than quarter three,” Laurent-Patrick Gally, vice president of research at Shuaa Capital PSC, said before the earnings were announced. “That should be reflected in the quarter four results.”

The price of ammonia for sale in India rose about 17 percent during the quarter, while ethylene for delivery to Japan gained 46 percent.

Industries Qatar draws on the country’s natural-gas reserves, the world’s third largest, to feed its factories.

Follow us on

For all the latest business news from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.