Qatar Stock Exchange on Wednesday celebrated the listing of Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company (MPCH) and the start of its shares trading, along with other companies. With this, the number of listed companies on Qatar bourse has risen to 43.

Qatar Minister of Energy and Industry and the MPHC board chairman Dr Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada described the event as a milestone for the Qatari petrochemical sector in general, and for the MPHC in particular as it represents an area of interest for the Qatar Stock Exchange and the Qatari citizens, who have invested in the future and put their trust in this national company.

"The listing derives its significance from several factors; the first factor is the wise and prudent leadership focusing on several initiatives to encourage savings and long term investments; the second factor is the great confidence that the company will be a new Qatari success story in the petrochemical industry. The third factor is the great success of the IPO and strong response from various segments of the Qatari society; and the fourth factor is the role played by the company’s listing in strengthening and stimulating the capital market, he remarked.

He was speaking at a ceremony organized by Qatar Stock Exchange which was attended by Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud Al Thani, Governor of Qatar Central Bank, Dr Hussein Ali al-Abdullah, the acting chairman of Qatar Stock Exchange, and Abdul Rahman Ahmed Al Shaibi, vice chairman of the MPHC's Board.

Dr Al Sada said the listing was an important step in the implementation of the Qatar National Vision, which will contribute in achieving economic diversification, expand private sector participation in the development process, and provide a real opportunity to all citizens to benefit directly from economic growth and the boom in the oil and gas sector.

The minister later rang the Qatar Stock Exchange opening bell at 9.30am to celebrate the listing of the company. The opening price on the first day of trading was QR50 ($13.7) then trended in an upward direction reaching the upper limit to QR73.90.

The last traded price and the closing price was QR55. The number of executed transactions amounted to 11,801 totaling 11 million traded shares for a total value of QR674.4 million.

Welcoming Mesaieed into the family of listed companies, Qatar Exchange CEO Rashid Al Mansoori said he hoped the company will increase exchange depth and bring new opportunities and additional choice to the investing public.

"Qatar exchange is actively seeking to increase the number of listed companies through a greater understanding of the benefits of using the public equity markets to finance growth. We look forward to listing of “MPHC” being the starting point for a renewal interests in companies seeking IPOs and also in the future additional listed products including ETFs and Sukuk," he added.-TradeArabia News Service