BUSINESSMonday 4 June 2018

PAGE | 20PAGE | 18China warns US trade deals off if tariffs go ahead

Airbus: Automation to revamp jet manufacturing

QIIB holds Ramadan GhabqaSheikh Dr. Khalid bin Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani (sitting, sixth right), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB); Dr Abdulbasit Ahmad Al Shaibei (sitting, fifth right), Chief Executive Officer; and other board members and executive management of QIIB posing for a group picture after a Ramadan Ghabqa dinner, which was hosted by the Chairman of the bank at his Majlis in Al Gharafa.

Qatari economy emerges stronger after siege: QC headMOHAMMAD SHOEB THE PENINSULA

DOHA: Qatari economy has not only successfully weathered the impact of the unjust blockade by Arab-quartet, but it has also grown stronger, vibrant and more diversified than it was before the siege, said the Chairman of Qatar Chamber, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani (pictured).

The economy, especially in terms of diversification, food security and eco-nomic sovereignty, has witnessed incredible improvements over the last one year as a result of several important initiatives on the part of government and the private sector. Eco-nomic liberalisation, business-friendly envi-ronment coupled with reforms in tax and labour laws has made the economy more robust. The concerted efforts on the part of various government agencies and the private sector collectively helped defying the impact of the unjust siege and offered businesses and consumers more freedom and better choices for goods as well as prices.

“Today we are in a much better off compared to the position we were before the blockade. The Qatari market is more open. We see more varieties of goods in the local market coming from different parts of the world that too at more com-petitive and affordable prices,” Sheikh Khalifa told The Peninsula.

Sheikh Khalifa added: “We trans-formed the crisis into opportunities. The Qatari economy is now more diversified. The gap in the market is filled by local producers and goods from other coun-tries. Qatar’s gross domestic product (GDP), international trade (both imports and exports), and other macroeconomic fundamentals are growing steadily, which speak volume about the

robustness of the economy.”He also anticipated that if the

rebound in energy prices get stabilised at this level, the government will have more revenues to invest in public projects and the social sector, which will further accelerate the pace of economic growth. Commenting on the recently announced economic reforms, especially with regard to FDI, the Chairman of QC, noted: “Qatar has been an open economy before also. Every few years we see needful revision in laws. The new laws will attract more investments in the country. However, we would like to see more investments in the field of

healthcare, education and industrial sector.”

With regard to public-private part-nership (PPP) taken immediately after the siege, he said that many initiatives were taken on PPP model which include projects in the food and agriculture, building materials and the construction sector.

The main focus was for goods that were needed in the market immediately. “In addition, there are projects in many other sectors which need time to establish. However, the private sector moved immediately and covered all the gaps in the market that were created as a result of the abrupt blockade,” Sheikh Khalifa added. “You will see more products hitting the market by the end of 2018.”

Asked about government’s recent decision to withdraw products from the siege countires, he said that the gov-ernment did the right thing. It was a well thought of decision. The traders and retailers were informed much in advance in December to clear their stocks. “They were given enough time. As our products are not allowed to enter the blockading countries then what do you expect us to do,” questioned the Chairman of the QC.

Global CEOs stepping up to address uncertaintiesTHE PENINSULA

DOHA: The chief executive officers (CEOs) across the globe are positive about the economy and excited by the growth opportunities provided by disruption, noted KPMG’s latest report on ‘2018 Global CEO Outlook’.

The report also demon-strates that CEOs understand that, to drive growth, they need to combine equal amounts of resourcefulness and realism. The report, titled ‘Growing pains’, analyses the findings from interviews with 1,300 CEOs of large companies globally, and features a spot-light interview with Ali Ahmed Al Kuwari, QNB Group CEO.

This is the first time that a Middle Eastern banking sector CEO has featured in the report.

The report indicates that CEOs are facing a variety of challenges, such as uncer-tainty, driving realistic growth, digital transformation and cyber threats, and are focusing

o n d a t a - d r i v e n decision-making.

Speaking about these findings, Ahmed Abu Sharkh, KPMG in Qatar’s country senior partner, said: “The 2018 CEO outlook shows that, glo-bally, business leaders are aware of the various chal-lenges they must overcome to continue to grow; with 90 percent of interviewees being confident in their company’s prospects. Since the blockade began in Qatar 12 months ago, we have seen unparalleled challenge and change for many of the country’s busi-nesses. However, in-line with global sentiment, there have been numerous examples of leaders maintaining a positive outlook and taking a proactive approach towards identifying opportunities to refine and enhance their operations, ulti-mately securing growth.”

Digitalisation was a common theme throughout the report and, along with this, a growing sense of concern

around cyber security; with nearly half (49 percent) of CEOs saying that becoming the victim of an attack is a case of ‘when’ and not ‘if’. On this note, Al Kuwari commented, “The challenge is to constantly be ahead of the cyber criminals — a task which is very difficult to achieve. While cyber security used to be considered an issue primarily for the IT department, these days it is a permanent agenda item for the entire C-Suite — one that we are all responsible for”.

Other international business leaders also echo Al Kuwari’s concern in the report, which states that CEOs are embracing the digital agenda like never before; with 59 percent con-sidering the protection of customer data as a critical personal responsibility. Overall, cyber security has risen from fifth to second place this year in terms of risks which have the potential to hamper future

growth. Only half (51 percent) of respondents indicated they are well-prepared for a cyber attack, even though over half (55 percent) say that a strong cyber strategy is critical to engender trust with key stakeholders.

With customer demands changing continually, and the technology landscape in a constant state of flux, agility and intuition are critical. Around two thirds (67 percent) of CEOs have admitted to relying on their own intuition over data-driven insights to make strategic decisions over the past 3 years, with 51 percent disclosing that they have less confidence in the accuracy of predictive ana-lytics, compared to historic data, Abu-Sharkh noted,

The data published in this report is based on a survey of 1,300 CEOs in 11 of the world’s largest economies: Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and the US.

Global airlines issue warning over trade tensionsREUTERS

SYDNEY: Growing tension over inter-national trade could damage the airline industry and the world economy, global airlines and aviation executives warned yesterday. The US government has renewed tariff threats against China and imposed duties on steel and aluminium on US allies Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

“Any measures that reduce trade and

probably consequently limit passenger travel are bad news,” Alexandre de Juniac, director general of the Interna-tional Air Transport Association, told Reuters at IATA’s annual meeting in Sydney. The group represents most of the world’s main airlines “We always get concerned when you start to see ten-sions elevate around global trade and free trade,” American Airlines Group Chief Executive Doug Parker said. American has not seen any effect yet on

revenues, he said. The uncertainty could curb demand for the business travel, a key driver of profits for the airline industry, Gloria Guevara Manzo, chief executive of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

“(Business travellers) need to wait and see what happens — will their business be impacted, do they need to diversify, go some other places. War in trade is not good,” she said.

Planemakers Boeing and Airbus

echoed that the uncertainty was bad for business and said free trade helped to drive economic growth, creating jobs. Airbus said the aviation industry existed because people could travel freely and markets were open. “We are in a worldwide industry here,” Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Eric Schulz told reporters. “We see it in a negative way because it is putting borders and putting constraints for everybody, including our customers.” Tariffs would not have a

material impact on Boeing’s results, Randy Tinseth, the company’s marketing vice-president for commercial airplanes said. “For example, I think 90 percent of the aluminium we acquire comes domestically,” he said.

Airbus’ Schulz said it was too early to say what the direct financial impact on the European company might be.

The annual IATA meeting brings together about 130 CEOs and 1,000 delegates.

18 MONDAY 4 JUNE 2018BUSINESS

Foreign firms struggle in cash-strapped TurkmenistanREUTERS

ALMATY/ANKARA: Some foreign companies in Turkmen-istan are struggling to make sales and collect payments as economic pressures mount in large part because of a sharp drop in the Central Asian nation’s crucial gas exports.

There is little economic data beyond official statistics that paint a picture of sustained growth, but some foreign exec-utives say hard currency shortages have crippled the

state-dominated economy.Turkmenistan, with the

world’s fourth-largest gas reserves, is still awarding con-tracts to foreign and domestic firms, but some projects have stalled and the International Monetary Fund says it should cut spending or devalue its currency, the manat. “The government has run out of financial resources, and it hasn’t been paying for fin-ished contracts, let alone being able to pay for new ones,” said Oguzhan Cakiroglu, board member at Cakiroglu Grup, a

Turkish metals and construction company that has now stopped operating in Turkmenistan.

Ashgabat’s problems began in 2016 when Russia, its main gas buyer, stopped buying, citing pricing disputes and shifts in the global energy market.

Exports to China have failed to offset the loss of Russian sales and the country’s total export revenue dropped to $8.0-8.5bn in 2016-17, about half of what it was receiving between 2000 and 2014.

In response, the government

of President Kurbanguly Berdy-mukhamedov has gradually tightened foreign exchange con-trols to conserve hard currency for priority projects.

On the black market, the manat has fallen to 17-18 per dollar from 13-14 at the beginning of this year and 7 in late 2016. The official rate is 3.5 per dollar.

Private local companies such as importers of consumer goods receive only a fraction of the dollars they request, Turkmen entrepreneurs say.

China warns US trade deals off if tariffs go aheadAP

BEIJING: China warned yesterday after another round of talks on a sprawling trade dispute with Washington that any deals they produce “will not take effect” if President Donald Trump’s threatened tariff hike on Chinese goods goes ahead.

The warning came after delegations led by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and China’s top economic official, Vice-Premier Liu He, wrapped up a meeting on Beijing’s pledge to narrow its trade surplus. Ross said at the start of the event they had discussed specific American exports China might pur-chase, but the talks ended with no joint statement and neither side released details.

The White House threw the meeting’s status into doubt Tuesday by renewing a threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on $50bn of Chinese high-tech goods in response to complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. The event went ahead despite that but Beijing said it reserved the right to retaliate. Tues-day’s announcement revived fears the con-flict between the two biggest economies might dampen global growth or encourage other governments to raise their own bar-riers to imports. “If the United States intro-duces trade sanctions including a tariff increase, all the economic and trade achieve-ments negotiated by the two parties will not take effect,” said the Chinese statement, carried by the official Xinhua News Agency. The negotiating process should be “based on the premise” of not fighting a “trade war,” the statement said. The American Embassy in Beijing didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump is pressing Beijing to narrow its politically volatile trade surplus with the United States, which reached a record $375.2 billion last year. That comes at the same time Trump has riled some of America’s closest allies with the imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

After a three-day meeting of finance ministers from the G7 industrial nations that ended Saturday in Canada, Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau issued a summary saying the other six members want Trump to hear their message of “concern and dis-appointment” over the U.S. trade actions.

Allies including Canada and the European Union are threatening retaliatory

tariffs. Bruno Le Maire, France’s finance and economy minister, was blunt in his assessment of the meeting.

“It has been a tense and tough G7 - I would say it’s been far more a G6 plus one than a G7,” said Le Maire, who called the tariffs unjustified.

“We regret that our common work together at the level of the G7 has been put at risk by the decisions taken by the American administration on trade and on tariffs,” he said US tensions with China had eased after Beijing promised on May 19 to “significantly increase” purchases of farm

goods, energy and other products and services following the last round of talks in Washington. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the dispute was “on hold” and the tariff hike would be postponed.

That truce appeared to end with Tues-day’s surprise announcement. It said the White House also will impose curbs on Chinese investment and purchases of U.S. high-tech goods and on visas for Chinese students. Analysts suggested Trump might be trying to appease critics of his adminis-tration’s deal to allow Chinese telecom equipment giant ZTE Corp. to stay in business. They said those political pressures mean the technology-related tariff hikes are likely to go ahead.

Members of Congress criticized the agreement to lift a ban on sales of U.S. com-ponents to ZTE, which admitted violating rules on exports to Iran and North Korea. In exchange, the company is to remove its man-agement team, hire American compliance officers and pay a fine. Trump has threatened to raise tariffs on a total of up to $150bn of Chinese goods. The announcement gave no indication whether the other increases might also go ahead.

US singled out by G7 allies over steel and aluminium tariffsAP

WHISTLER: The United States was singled out by some of its closest allies over the imposition of tariffs that they warn will undermine open trade and weaken confidence in the global economy. The dispute over US President Donald Trump’s new levies on steel and aluminum imports is driving a wedge in the G7 group of industrial nations.

Following Saturday’s conclusion of a three-day meeting of G7 finance min-isters, Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau issued a summary saying the other six members want Trump to hear their message of “concern and disap-pointment” over the US trade actions.

Allies including Canada and the European Union are threatening retal-iatory tariffs.

The G7 ministers urged US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to deliver their message before leaders of the group’s member countries meet next week in Quebec.

Ministers urged the US to abandon the tariffs ahead of the leaders’ summit

before the move causes deeper divisions within the G7.

“The international community is faced with significant economic and security issues, which are best addressed through a united front from G7 coun-tries,” said the summary, which was agreed to by the attending ministers. “Members continue to make progress on behalf of our citizens, but recognise that this collaboration and co-operation has been put at risk by trade actions against other members,” it added.

Bruno Le Maire, France’s finance and economy minister, was blunt in his assessment of the Whistler meeting, where ministers confronted Mnuchin.

“It has been a tense and tough G7 — I would say it’s been far more a G6 plus one than a G7,” said Le Maire, who called the tariffs unjustified. “We regret that our common work together at the level of the G7 has been put at risk by the decisions taken by the American admin-istration on trade and on tariffs,” he said.

Mnuchin disagreed with Le Maire.“I think there was a comment out

there that (this was) the G6 plus one. It

was not.... We believe in the G7, it’s an important group,” Mnuchin said at his own news conference.

“I’m sure that the president looks forward to coming to Canada and meeting all the other leaders with many, many important issues going on throughout the world.” Morneau, who presided at the ministerial meeting in Whistler, said even though the group found common ground on many sub-jects, G7 members are now forced to do whatever they can to persuade Trump to withdraw the tariffs.

“They actually are destructive. And that’s consistently held across the six countries that expressed their point of view to Secretary Mnuchin,” Morneau told reporters.

The US President has said the tariffs are needed to protect US steel and alu-minum industries vital to the nation’s security.

Morneau has called the tariffs “absurd,” saying Canadian metal sales are no security risk to the US. He warns the measures will destroy jobs on both sides of the border.

Le Maire said it is up to the US to take action to rebuild confidence among G7 members and to avoid any escalation during the leaders’ summit next week.

That meeting, which will be hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, will be Trump’s first visit to Canada as president.

Jetmakers race to meet Sydney-London non-stop challengeREUTERS

SYDNEY: Planemakers gave a glimpse of the ultra-long-distance jets of the future yesterday as they work to meet a demanding goal from Australia’s Qantas to connect Sydney and London in a non-stop 20-hour flight.

As global airline leaders gather for an annual conference in Sydney with jet lag and in some cases with lost suitcases after connecting at foreign hubs, Qantas is looking to close the tra-ditional “tyranny of distance” between Australia and global financial centres like London and New York by 2022.

This year, Qantas began non-stop flights between Australia and Europe by linking Perth and London. It is now considering an order for ultra-long jets with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777X in contention.

“I think we’ll get to the stage where, technically, we will know where the aircraft are going to be, in the next few months,” Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said ahead of an Interna-tional Air Transport Association gathering in Sydney.

A purchase decision is expected next year if the business case stacks up, he said.

Ultra-long haul flights are aimed primarily at business trav-ellers and can allow airlines to charge a 20 percent premium over one-stop rivals, according to industry data.

“I would not pretend we would sell 1,500 airplanes like this, but I would say a reasonable assumption could be in the neighbourhood of 50-100 air-planes total,” Airbus Chief Com-mercial Officer Eric Schulz said.

Airbus’ first customer for the ultra-long range A350-900ULR, Singapore Airlines, last week said it would launch 19-hour flights from Singapore to New York in October. It has ordered seven of the jets, which carry more fuel than a typical A350-900.

Sydney-London is an even more demanding journey and Qantas wants to do it with more passengers than the 161 business

and premium economy seats that Singapore Airlines plans to use on its ultra-long haul routes.

NOT ONE-OFF DESIGN Qantas has not announced

how many ultra-long haul jets it will order, but Joyce said it could be a “reasonable-sized fleet” given that potential routes include Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to London, New York and Paris or Frankfurt.

Schulz said Airbus was con-sidering development of an ultra-long-range version of the A350-900 or the larger A350-1000 to suit Qantas and a handful of other potential buyers. The Australian carrier is also looking at the Boeing 777-8, expected in service in 2022.

Boeing Commercial Air-planes marketing vice-president Randy Tinseth said it was studying making planes lighter or increasing take-off capacity to close the range gap.

“We need to make sure in any of these cases that we build an airplane that has what I call legs - it not only works for one customer but works for many,” he said. “So the investment we make makes sense and then they have an airplane that will have a finance market for it... A one-off doesn’t ever seem to work.” As planemakers look to modify designs, airlines and airports are also looking to adapt facilities.

Qantas is offering pre-flight yoga classes to Perth-London passengers in its lounge and has adapted its menu in all classes.

Perth-London has sold better than expected, particularly in premium cabins, Joyce said, with the economics working even with oil at $75 a barrel.

Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said the airport was con-sidering the construction of special arrival lounges.

“At the moment, 70 percent of the world’s population is reachable from Sydney on one direct flight,” he said. “Once those aircraft come to market the entire population of the world will be reachable in one flight. It is just an amazing step change in aviation.”

Governor of the Bank of Canada Stephen Poloz (left) and Canada’s Minister of Finance Bill Morneau hold a news conference after the G7 Finance Ministers Summit in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (left) chats with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He after their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, yesterday.

If the United States introduces trade sanctions including a tariff increase, all the economic and trade achievements negotiated by the two parties will not take effect.”

8,930.98 +50.47 PTS4.78%

QSE FTSE100 DOW BRENT7,701.77 +23.57 PTS0.31%

24,635.21 +219.37PTS0.90% Dow & Brent before going to press

$65.73 -1.31

MarketWatch

19MONDAY 4 JUNE 2018 BUSINESS

Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis (right), Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (centre), CEO of PKN Orlen oil company Daniel Obajtek talk as part of a meeting at the Orlen Lietuva Refinery yesterday in Mazeikiai, Lithuania.

Samsonite CEO quits in short-seller win over household brandBLOOMBERG

HONG KONG: In a dramatic takedown by a short seller of a world-famous brand’s top leader, Samsonite International SA’s chief executive officer resigned after an attack on his credentials and the company’s corporate governance.

The world’s largest luggage maker said CEO Ramesh Tainwala has stepped down, according to a statement. Sam-sonite said the resignation was in the company’s best interest after its board reviewed Blue Orca Capital LLC’s allegations that Tainwala falsified educational credentials. Chief Financial Officer Kyle Francis Gendreau has taken over as CEO.

The company also released a detailed rebuttal of Blue Orca’s allegations of accounting lapses and poor corporate governance. Investors sent Samsonite’s stock to its biggest gain in more than six years, jumping 9.9 percent in Hong Kong on Friday as trading resumed after a week-long halt. The stock plunged 21 percent last week after the report was issued, erasing $1.3bn in market capitalisation.

Terry Hong, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities Co., said Tainwala’s departure removes

risks for investors. “The company has provided a very strong clari-fication with solid evidence,” he said. “It will help investors rebuild confidence on the financial per-formance of the company.” The short seller’s attack on the dom-inant player in the $19bn luggage market claims a CEO who has helped the company grow through acquisitions since taking the helm in 2014. The accusations have dented Samsonite’s shares after they almost doubled over the past two years to a record in April, driven by a spate of deals including the $1.8bn purchase of Tumi. The resignation is one of the biggest victories in Asia for activist short sellers, who have typically targeted less recog-nizable companies, with mixed results. In Hong Kong, a broad market rally has caused many bearish wagers to backfire, while investors in Japan have shrugged off many short-seller attacks.

It’s also the latest in a winning streak for Blue Orca’s founder, Soren Aandahl. Before Samsonite, the then-director of Glaucus Research Group, targeted Aus-tralian money manager Blue Sky Alternative Investments Ltd, whose shares fell almost 80 percent after Aandahl’s report. Glaucus’s claims last year that Australian sandalwood company

Quintis Ltd. made misleading dis-closures sent its shares down 79 percent before its suspension from trading. “The work done by Soren is nothing short of out-standing,” said Marc Cohodes, a Cotati, California-based short seller. Regulators should look closely at the allegations made in the report, he said.

In Blue Orca’s attack against Mansfield, Massachusetts-based Samsonite, Aandahl accused Tainwala of claiming to hold a doctoral degree in business administration from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati. His official biography on Samsonite’s website does not make this claim, and the company noted Friday that its disclosure of Tainwala’s background has been accurate since the company’s Hong Kong initial public offering in 2011. However, a reference on a website for businesses con-nected to Tainwala’s family said the group’s flagship “was founded in September 1985 by Dr Ramesh Tainwala.” The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Tainwala said in an email he never claimed to hold a doctoral degree. He told the Journal he had enrolled for the Ph.D. program in 1992 and friends and colleagues jokingly addressed him as “doctor” afterward.

India urges global planemakers to ‘Make in India’REUTERS

MUMBAI: India wants to encourage aircraft makers to manufacture in the country, starting with components and moving eventually to complete aircraft, Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said yesterday.

In a series of messages on Twitter, Prabhu appealed to Airbus and Boeing Co to participate in the push as part of the government’s flagship “Make In India” campaign, highlighting the growth

potential of the booming market, which has been adding passengers and cutting fares. India’s booming aviation market and economy needs more than 1,000 passenger planes and “many more” cargo planes, Prabhu, who last week visited an Airbus facility in Toulouse in France, wrote in the Twitter post.

Airbus said last year it expected Indian car-riers to order 1,750 aircraft over 20 years. Boeing predicted up to 2,100 planes would be sold in the same period.

Lithuanian and Polish PMs at Orlen Lietuva Refinery

QATAR STOCK EXCHANGE

QE Index 8,930.98 0.57 %

QE Total Return Index 15,735.39 0.57 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic

Index - Price 2,168.73 0.16 %

QE Al Rayan Islamic Index 3,518.81 0.16 %

QE All Share Index 2,614.03 0.54 %

QE All Share Banks &

Financial Services 3,193.14 0.58 %

QE All Share Industrials 2,853.62 0.11 %

QE All Share Transportation 1,910.24 2.74 %

QE All Share Real Estate 1,612.45 0.84 %

QE All Share Insurance 2,977.94 2.13 %

QE All Share Telecoms 946.44 0.75 %

QE All Share Consumer

Goods & Services 5,839.04 1.24 %

QE INDICES SUMMARY QE MARKET SUMMARY COMPARISON WORLD STOCK INDICES

GOLD AND SILVER

03-06-2018Index 8,930.98

Change 50.47

% 0.57

YTD% 4.78

Volume 11,415,164

Value (QAR) 401,129,952.69

Trades 3,645

Up 26 | Down 17 | Unchanged 0131-05-2018Index 8,880.51

Change 35.31

% 0.40

YTD% 4.19

Volume 59,238,018

Value (QAR) 3,510,584,824.45

Trades 14,330

EXCHANGE RATE

GOLD QR152.3001 per grammeSILVER QR1.9229 per gramme

Index Day’s Close Pt Chg % Chg Year High Year Low

All Ordinaries 6093.8 -27.9 -0.46 6256.5 5834

Cac 40 Index/D 5425.67 -12.39 -0.23 5657.44 5038.12

Dj Indu Average 24361.45 -391.64 -1.58 26616.71 20942.57

Hang Seng Inde/D 30056.79 -427.79 -1.4 33484.08 29129.26

Iseq Overall/D 7139.21 12.44 0.17 7257.41 6410.26

Kse 100 Inx/D 42546.48 -76.26 -0.18 47144.12 40169.62

S&P 500 Index/D 2689.86 -31.47 -1.15642 2872.87 2532.69

Currency Buying SellingUS$ QR 3.6305 QR 3.6500

UK QR 4.8048 QR 4.8719

Euro QR 4.2083 QR 4.2682

CA$ QR 2.7793 QR 2.8345

Swiss Fr QR 3.6540 QR 3.7059

Yen QR 0.03314 QR 0.03378

Aus$ QR 2.7241 QR 2.7773

Ind Re QR 0.0535 QR 0.0545

Pak Re QR 0.0311 QR 0.0318

Peso QR 0.0686 QR 0.070

SL Re QR 0.0228 QR 0.0233

Taka QR 0.0425 QR 0.0437

Nep Re QR 0.0334 QR 0.0341

SA Rand QR 0.2872 QR 0.2929

Guillaume Faury, who took over the planemaking unit of Airbus in February, said an additional A320 production line to be opened soon in Hamburg, Germany, would contain significantly more automation and robots than previously.

20 MONDAY 4 JUNE 2018BUSINESS

BREAK TIMEVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTERCROSSWORD NOVO Pearl Qatar

MALL

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

LANDMARK

ROXY

AL KHOR

ASIAN TOWN

Veere Di Wedding (Hindi) 1:00, 3:30, 6:00, 8:30 & 11:00pm Solo: Star Wars Story (2D/Action) 12:30, 12:15, 3:00, 3:15, 5:45, 6:00, 8:45, 9:00, 11:30pm & 12:00midnight Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (Hindi) 12:00noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00pm & 12:00midnight Show Dogs (2D) 12:00noon, 4:30 & 9:00pm Kasal A.K.A. Wedding (2D/Tagalog) 2:00, 6:30 & 11:00pm A Wrinkle In Time (2D/Adventure) 1:00, 5:00 & 9:30pm Interrogation (2D/Action) 3:15, 7:30 & 11:45pm Armed Response (2D) 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnight Solo: Star Wars Story (3D/IMAX /Action) 12:00noon, 2:45, 5:30, 8:15 & 11:00pm

Kasal (2D/Tagalog) 8:00pm Show Dogs (2D/Comedy) 8:00pm Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2D/Hindi) 8:30pm Armed Response (2D/Action) 9:45pm Distorted (2D/Action) 10:00pm Panchavarna Thatha (2D/Malayalam) 11:15pm Veere Di Wedding (2D/Hindi) 11:30pm Abhiyum Anuvum (2D/Tamil) 11:30pm

ROYAL PLAZA

Kasal (2D/Tagalog) 8:30 & 11:30pm Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2D/Hindi) 10:30pm Show Dogs (2D/Comedy) 8:00pm Armed Response (2D/Action) 9:45pm Panchavarna Thatha (2D/Malayalam) 8:15 & 11:00pm

Panchavarna Thatha (2D/Malayalam) 8:30pm Veere Di Wedding (2D/Hindi) 8:00 & 11:30pm Show Dogs (2D/Comedy) 8:00pm Kasal (2D/Tagalog) 9:30pm Distorted (2D/Action) 10:00pm Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2D/Hindi) 11:00pm Abhiyum Anuvum (2D/Tamil) 11:30pm

Veere Di Wedding (Hindi) 7:45pmAravindante Athidhikal (Malayalam) 8:00pm Panchavarna Thatha (Malayalam) 8:00, 10:15 & 10:30pm Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (Hindi) 10:15pm Bhaskar Oru Rascal (Tamil) 10:15pm Abhiyude Katha (Malayalam) 8:00pm Abhiyum Anuvum (Tamil) 10:30pm

Veere Di Wedding (Hindi) 11:00am, 1:30, 9:00 & 11:30pmPanchavarna Thatha (Malayalam) 11:15am, 2:15, 8:15 & 11:15pmAbhiyude Katha (Malayalam) 12:30 & 11:00pm Abhiyum Anuvum (Tamil) 3:00 & 8:15pm

Distorted 4:00, 7:00, 9:00, 11:00 & 11:55pm Panchavarna Thatha (Malayalam) 1:00, 4:00, 7:00 & 10:10pm Solo: Star Wars Story 1:00, 1:15 & 7:00pmStolen Princess 1:00, 3:00 & 7:00pmAvengers: Infinity War (Action) 3:45, 9:00 & 9:45pm Veere Di Wedding (Hindi) 1:00, 3:30, 7:00, 9:30 & 11:55pm

The story of a bird charmer as he goes on to influence the lives of people while witnessing a change in his own.

FLIK Mirqab

PANCHAVARNA THATHAA Wrinkle In Time 3:25pm Kasal 2:55, 5:50 & 10:40pmArmed Response 3:50, 9:45 & 11:55pmAvengers: Infinity War 4:30, 6:05, 8:10, 10:05 & 11:05pmIncredible Story of The Giant Pear 2:35, 5:15 & 8:00pm Show Dogs 3:35, 5:30, 7:25 & 8:45pm Masha And The Bear 4:20 & 7:00pm Panchavarna Thatha 3:20, 6:20, 9:20 & 11:50pm Solo: A Star Wars Story 2:40, 5:20, 7:25, 8:00, 9:20, 10:40pm & 12:00midnight

Automation to revamp jet manufacturing: AirbusREUTERS

SYDNEY: The new President of Europe’s Airbus said digital tech-nology would sweep through aircraft factories in coming years, enabling higher production and triggering a significant shift in research and development spending towards high-tech manufacturing.

Guillaume Faury (pictured), who took over the planemaking unit of Airbus in February, said an additional A320 production line to be opened soon in Hamburg, Germany, would contain signifi-cantly more automation and robots than previously.

“Whether it is modern tooling or access to more data, there are far more possibilities than before. What worked for small production lines is becoming a reality for bigger ones,” Faury said ahead of an annual meeting of

the International Air Transport Association yesterday. “It is going to transform our industry, I am convinced.” His comments under-s c o r e a s h i f t i n

planemaker competition to focus more on production efficiencies rather than mega-sales as Airbus and rival Boeing sit on orders equivalent to 8 years of production.

On Friday, Faury told staff Airbus faced a challenge in reaching 2018 delivery targets and must eventually overhaul a man-ufacturing system that belongs to a “bygone age,” according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

The world’s second-largest planemaker is not, however, ready to decide on an increase in A320 narrowbody production to 70-plus aircraft a month due to recent engine delays caused by technical and supply-chain problems.

“Rate 75 (per month) would create opportunities to do new things but we are not yet there. We are ramping up from 50 to 60, that is the current challenge...I like to say step by step,” said Faury.

The engine shortages have left a new record of 100 semi-finished jets sitting undelivered outside Airbus factories.

Faury said the success of the A320 had lifted output to levels that engineers call “flow production” rather than a slower workshop-type model.

He added that when the A320 factories had been laid out some 30 years ago, they weren’t designed for such mass production

in mind, with expectations for 1,500 planes over the lifetime of the programme. By contrast, Airbus now produces 600 a year.

“The production system was designed at a time when this level of production was not even dreamed of,” he said.

Airbus has sold 8,000 of the jets with another 6,000 on order and low costs are critical to this increasingly commoditised part of the jet business, where the A320 fights the equally sought-after Boeing 737. The battle over pro-duction strategy is expected to be even fiercer for future planes.

Asked if this would hike R&D spending, Faury said “no...but the share that goes to digital is increasing very significantly”.

Faury also took a step back from aggressive rhetoric previously heard from Airbus on market share battles against Boeing.

For years the two giants have

competed toe-to-toe for aircraft sales.

Their sales volumes feed through to relative production costs, and thus the price at which aircraft can be sold - but maxim-ising volume can also require painful discounts.

Asked about the value of market share, Faury said: “A company is not in the same position when it has to acquire a position on the market and gain credibility to become one of the big players in the game. I think this is now behind us in Airbus, and we have acquired this place and the game has slightly changed.” Faury said he was monitoring separate problems on engines provided to Boeing 787s by Rolls-Royce, which is also the biggest supplier for Airbus wide-bodies. He saw no impact on Airbus programmes yet and reiterated his commitment to the UK firm.

Kenya launches oil export driveAFP

NAIROBI: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday officially launched a pilot project to truck oil for export from its remote northwest to the port of Mombasa in an effort to boost the economy.

“This... marks the beginning of a long and fruitful journey,” Kenyatta said as he flagged off a convoy of oil laden trucks.

“My government will therefore focus on the development of our oil and gas sectors for the betterment of the economy and people,” he added.

Initial plans are for trucks to carry some 2,000 barrels of oil per day from

wells near Lokichar in the far north, all the way to Mombasa, about 1,000km away. Critics say large parts of the route may not be passable given damage to the road and bridges caused during the rainy season.

Arnold Nyaga, researcher at the Kenya Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas, said the project was “a dis-traction from what really matters” for Kenya’s development.

“I think the idea behind this cer-emony is for Kenya to show that they are active when it comes to oil, and that they want to be a leader in East Africa,” he said.

The pilot programme, planned to run for two years, was supposed to

begin in June 2017 but was held up by differences over sharing oil royalties.

President Kenyatta recently announced that the central gov-ernment would take 75 percent of the proceeds, with 20 percent going to Turkana province and five percent for local communities.

Officials say the object is to see how the oil fields — discovered in 2012 — respond to increased extraction, with actual exports a long way off.

The government hopes that will happen with the construction of a pipeline capable of carrying 100,000 barrels per day to the coast but the earliest completion date is 2021.

Pedestrians walk past a mural at a traditional market in Banda Aceh yesterday. Indonesia’s economic growth picked up slightly in 2017 as the central bank repeatedly slashed interest rates, official data showed, but analysts warned that there was little hope of another bump this year.

Indonesia’s economic growth picks up