As the corruption crackdown in Saudi Arabia reverberates across markets, companies in gas-rich Qatar are selling assets. This week two state-linked firms are divesting assets. Qatar Foundation, a royal family run nonprofit that also operates a joint venture with Vodafone Group PLC, is seeking to raise as much as $1.5 billion from the sale of a stake in India’s biggest mobile-phone operator, while Qatar Islamic Bank is exiting its investment in Asian Finance Bank.
The nation’s foreign reserves and companies are showing signs of strain as a Saudi-led isolation of Qatar entered its sixth month.
International reserves and foreign-currency liquidity in September dropped 8.6 percent to $34 billion from a month ago. The stock index has lost 24 percent this year compared with a 3.8 percent decline for its Saudi counterpart.
The Qatar Investment Authority, the country’s $320 billion sovereign wealth fund, has reduced its direct holdings in Credit Suisse Group AG, Rosneft PJSC and Tiffany & Co. in recent months. Commercial Bank of Qatar, the nation’s third-biggest lender, is in talks to sell its 40 percent stake in Abu Dhabi-listed United Arab Bank PJSC.
It’s not just sales. Qatar Airways Ltd. this week agreed to buy a $660 million stake in Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.
The airline, however, is likely to post an annual loss after the standoff forced it to cancel some routes and divert others.
Bloomberg
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