Qatar’s benchmark stock index fell to its lowest level in two weeks amid investor concern that dividend payments offered by companies in the Persian Gulf nation aren’t reflecting their 2011 earnings.
Masraf Al Rayan, a Shariah-compliant bank, fell the most in more than two weeks. Doha Bank QSC, Qatar’s third-largest bank by total loans, declined the most in two weeks. The benchmark QE Index retreated 0.4 percent to 8,593.98, the lowest intraday level since Feb. 2, at 11:24 a.m. in Doha. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, which tracks the 200 biggest companies in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, fell 0.1 percent.
Qatari lenders are benefiting from a pickup in lending as the country invests in infrastructure to prepare for the 2022 soccer World Cup. Doha Bank, which reported an 18-percent jump in 2011 net income, announced a lower dividend payment for 2011 than a year earlier. Qatar National Bank SAQ, the country’s largest lender, said last month its acquisition of Turkey’s Denizbank AS would not be possible if the dividend it distributes is too high.
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