Doha – Mubasher: Aamal Co on Wednesday reported an 11% decline in its profits for the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same quarter of 2016.
Profits stood at QAR 114.5 million in Q1-17, down from QAR 129.2 million in Q1-16, according to a filing to the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE).
Earnings per share (EPS) reached QAR 0.18 in Q1-17, compared to QAR 0.21 in the corresponding period a year earlier, the statement showed.
Aamal announced that the group’s revenue grew 22.3% to 830.8 million in Q1-17, compared to QAR 679.6 million in the same period of the year before.
There were no fair value gains on investment properties in Q1-17, the company added, noting that net capital investment expenditure decreased to QAR 21.2 million from QAR 25.1 million.
“The first quarter of 2017 has seen our revenues grow very strongly, by more than 22%; this has been driven by a combination of both organic and acquisition means following an upping of our stake in El Sewedy Cables through our 50% owned joint venture, Senyar Industries,” said Aamal’s chairman Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani.
“Offsetting this revenue growth has been a contraction in our margins, particularly within the Industrial Manufacturing division,” he added.
Meanwhile, the company’s vice chairman and managing director Mohamed bin Faisal Al Thani commented on the results saying that Aamal is “[performing] very strongly and in accordance with our expectations.”
Over 35% of Aamal’s net profit is derived from industrial manufacturing, which means that the company is “well placed to continue to be one of the winners as Qatar continues to diversify away from being a hydrocarbon-based economy through an intensive government-driven infrastructure development programme, as laid out in the country’s Vision 2030 and accelerated by the FIFA World Cup due to be held in 2022,” the vice chairman added.
The Qatari company had previously reported a decrease of 23.1% in its profits reaching QAR 462.3 million in 2016, compared to QAR 601 million in 2015.
Aamal’s stock closed Wednesday down 0.29% to QAR 13.74.
