Industries Qatar, the country’s largest company by market value, posted a record profit in the second quarter and beat an analyst’s forecast.

Net income in the three months to June 30 rose 33.7 per cent from the year-earlier period to QR1.16 billion ($318.8 million), compared with QR865.66 million in the year-earlier period.
The company, which groups chemical, metals and fuel additive businesses, made QR2.051 billion, or QR4.1 per share, in the first half.
Qatar Steel Company, a unit of Industries Qatar, said in March it planned to set up a company with Sabic in Mauritania to produce iron ore pellets.
Global prices for reinforcing steel bars rose 23.5 per cent during the second quarter to about $630 per tonne from a year earlier.
The government of Qatar, the world’s third-largest holder of natural gas reserves, owns 70.12 per cent of Industries Qatar. The company’s shares are up almost 31 per cent this year.
Industries Qatar made a profit of QR892.97 million in the first quarter.