Qatar Bank Masraf Gives JV Sale Details After Bourse Suspension

Qatari lender Masraf Al Rayan offered more detail into the sale of its stake in a real estate joint venture to a state fund on Tuesday, after the country’s stock exchange suspended the bank’s shares for a lack of clarity on the deal.

Corporate governance standards in the Gulf region have been in focus in recent weeks, due to the upgrading of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to emerging market status by index provider MSCI – a move which requires higher disclosure standards than those of a frontier market, their previous classification.

The fate of Dubai contractor Arabtec, whose share price slumped 70 per cent due to a panic sparked by a lack of information in the wake of its chief executive’s sudden departure last month, emphasised the importance of adequate disclosure of information to investors by firms.

Masraf Al Rayan, which has the largest MSCI weighting of any Qatari stock, said on Sunday it was selling its 50 per cent stake in Seef Lusail Real Estate Development Co to the real estate arm of the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund.

Masraf provided information on the split going to each of the two arms of Qatari Diar but no further details. As a result, the regulatory authorities in the Gulf state suspended the stock prior to trading on Tuesday until more clarity was given.

In a statement late on Tuesday, Masraf said the sale price would be QAR1.53 billion ($420.3 million), which would generate a gain of QAR466 million for the bank spread over three years.

The gain would not affect its second-quarter results, the bank added. These are due to be published on July 21.

Masraf defended its handling of the sale announcement, saying in the statement that it published the news in accordance with its disclosure policy and immediately upon the signing of the sale contract.

“The bank did not violate any rules or regulations as set out by the concerned regulatory authorities,” it said, pointing to the fact the deal was reported to the Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) after trading hours on Sunday.

It added its Tuesday statement was made to add clarity “based on the guidance of the Qatar Central Bank and the QFMA.”