Global Investment House, GIH, attributed the fall in corporate earnings of Qatar’s listed companies for the first half of 2014 (H1, 14) to industrials and insurance stocks, The Peninsula reported.

Of the seven sectors on the local bourse, four posted gains, while three reported a decline in earnings during the period. The overall decline was led by Industrial (-21.2 percent YoY) and Insurance (-35.3 percent YoY), which accounted for 6.3 percent and 2.1 percent of consolidated earnings fall, respectively, Global Investment  House (GIH) analysts noted.

Losses in Industrial are mainly ascribed to the 37.8% YoY decrease in Industries Qatar‘s (IQ) earnings, which contributed 57.6% to the sector’s Consolidated earnings. The deterioration in the company’s bottomline is mainly due to a series of extensive, planned major maintenance shutdowns across segments.

Barring IQ, the sector’s profit increased 24.1 percent in H1, 14. The Insurance sector was dragged down by Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance Co, which plunged 92.8 percent due to a fair value loss on financial assets of QR3.9m compared with a profit of QR690.8mn in H1, 13.

Excluding Qatar General Insurance & Reinsurance Co, profit in the Insurance sector grew 53.6 percent. The fall in the Telecommunications sector (contributed 8.3 percent to Qatar’s earnings)  is ascribed to Ooredoo (-1.8 percent0 , which faced higher operating expenses and SG&A costs and a 3.1 percent YoY decline in revenue.

Among gainers, the Banks & Financial Services sector (7.6 percent) was driven by heavyweight Qatar National Bank (accounted for 4.0 percent of the sector’s earnings Growth); the bank reported earnings growth of 7.7 percent, primarily led by a robust Increase in net interest income as well as non-interest income.