DOHA: Gulf International Services (GIS), the largest services group in Qatar with interests in a broad cross-section of industries, has posted QR628m in revenue for the first three months of the year ended March 2018, up by 3 percent from a year ago.
The group’s revenue in the insurance segment improved significantly versus last year, while the drilling segment reported a moderate growth in revenue.
Revenues in the aviation and catering segments were moderately down on last year.
The improvement in the insurance segment was primarily due to a general growth in both the energy and medical lines of business, while the Drilling segment benefited from improved asset utilizstion.
The aviation segment was affected by reduction in Qatar aviation operations, and the catering segment was impacted by the demobilisation of major contracts.
The group’s net profit for the first quarter closed at QR9m with earnings per share of QR0.05.
The group’s gross margin slightly improved due to marginally improved revenue, and a slight decrease in direct costs.
However, the group’s profit margin was slightly down on last year due to higher finance costs driven by increased market rates for borrowing.GIS’ closing cash stood at QR882m across the group’s companies as of March 31, 2018.
GIS has commenced the execution of some of the opportunities identified during the recently concluded growth strategy initiatives. The group expects the benefits of these initiatives to materialise in the near future. GIS is continuously monitoring the outcome of these initiatives, and will adjust the execution plan to ensure the group’s goals are realied accordingly, the group said in a statement yesterday.
