• Revenue for H1 2015 up 40% to US$53.7 million
(QAR195.6 million), compared to US$38.3 million
(QAR139 million) in H1 2014
• Net profit for the first half of 2015 up 86% to
US$24.4 million (QAR88.7 million), compared to US$13
million (QAR47.6 million) in H1 2014
QInvest, Qatar’s leading investment group and one of the
most prominent Islamic financial institutions globally,
today reported strong growth across the board, ending the
first half of 2015 with revenues up 40% and net profit
increasing 86%, compared to the first half of 2014.
Despite these strong results, QInvest continues to monitor
its investments carefully, given the challenges that
markets still represent going forward.
Commenting on these results Tamim Hamad Al-Kawari,
Chief Executive Officer of QInvest, said:
“During the first half of 2015 we generated strong
performance, despite the on-going volatility across global
markets. Profits generated in the past six months
alone exceeded those in the year 2014. We continued to
source new opportunities, strengthen our brand and deliver
positive returns. We also remained absolutely focused on
executing our exciting pipeline of deal flow, taking
advantage of our unique market position to leverage
opportunities and deliver value for clients and
shareholders alike.”
Business Update
During the first half of 2015, all three of QInvest’s
revenue-generating business lines – Investment Banking,
Principal Investments and Asset Management - continued to
cultivate new business and develop existing
relationships.
In the Investment Banking division, the structured finance business closed
nine transactions, deploying approximately US$260 million
(QAR946.8 million), of which approximately US$50 million
(QAR182 million) was syndicated. QInvest continued to
actively work on mandates for both sovereign and corporate
entities, which the team expects to execute in the second
half of the year. Moreover, the mergers and acquisitions
team remained active, most notably benefiting from
international transaction flows.
During the first half of 2015 the Principal Investments unit secured and invested in a yielding equity
opportunity in the German retail market, yielding assets
leased to national government agencies and a hospitality
value add opportunity as well as additional mezzanine debt
transactions, all in the US. Additionally, the team
continues to pursue residential development opportunities
in London on a co-investment basis. Following exits in
2014, the historical portfolio of non-real estate
Principal Investments has been reduced significantly, and
this trend continues.
During the first half of the year, QInvest also made a
select number of new equity investments; in aggregate
deploying approximately US$50 million (QAR182 million) in
three transactions. The transactions took the form of both
direct co-investments and fund investments; in all cases
the investments were made alongside leading investment
groups.
Within the Asset Management division, our clients continue to benefit from the
impressive performance and returns which we have generated
across our portfolios. QMAP, QInvest’s pioneering open
architecture sharia’a compliant fund platform, now
includes an additional regional equity fund, the Qatar
Equity Fund (the ‘Fund’). Launched in the last quarter,
the Fund uses the highly successful local equity strategy,
which has annualized returns of above 22% since launch in
2013, and is significantly ahead of the benchmark and its
peers. Whilst previously only offered as a segregated
account, the new Fund [now] provides access to a broader
number of eligible investors.