Max's to open maiden Las Vegas store in September, 3 more in Canada, Middle East before yearend

MANILA - Max’s Restaurant will open its first store in gaming hub Las Vegas in September, on top of three other new restaurants in Canada, Kuwait and Qatar before yearend.

On the sidelines of a Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) symposium-workshop late Monday, Max’s Franchising Inc president Robert F. Trota told reporters that the branch in Las Vegas, Nevada will be opened in the first week of September. The 515-square meter Las Vegas outlet is company-owned, and costs $1.2 million or roughly P52 million to put up, he said.

Max’s said its Las Vegas restaurant will be located at 1290 East Flamingo Road. Max’s Restaurant has eight other branches in the US—five in California (Glendale, Milpitas, Puente Hills, San Francisco and Vallejo); two in Hawaii (Dillingham and Waipahu); and one in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Trota said the latest US branch is also set to be the flagship training store in America.

Max’s Las Vegas restaurant aims to attract a wider customer base, Trota said, as “a lot of people go to Vegas.” According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority “nearly 40 million visitors” flock the city every year.

At present, 9 out of 10 customers of Max’s stores in the US are Filipinos, five percent have “Filipino-American influences” while the remaining five percent are “Americans who are adventurous” in their food choices, Trota said.

This customer profile is consistent with Max’s strategy of opening stores in areas with huge Filipino populations, Trota said, adding that, “We needed the Filipino community to help us bring Max’s to the mainstream.”

The company however would like to expand its clientele to non-Filipinos, who so far have taken to Max's signature fried chicken and adobo, he said.

Besides the Las Vegas store, Max’s will inaugurate a branch in Alberta, Canada by yearend, Trota said. The Alberta restaurant is a franchise with an investment of also $1.2 million for a 780-square meter site. Max’s has a branch each in the Canadian cities of Toronto and Vancouver.

Max's franchisees in the US and Canada are Filipinos, Trota said.

Two more restaurants in the Middle East are also in the works, hopefully for opening before the year ends, he said.

“We have chosen the sites in Qatar and Kuwait but we have not yet signed the lease,” he said. Max’s has three existing branches in the United Arab Emirates—one each in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah—all operated by Arab franchisees.

For its Asian expansion, Max’s Restaurant is eyeing the so-called “TIPS,” which besides the Philippines also include Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. “We just have to find the right franchisees,” Trota said.

On the local front, six to eight new stores will be opened in the second half to add to the existing 135 nationwide. “The additional branches will be in the new malls,” Trota said.

More than half of Max’s stores in the country are company-owned. Investment for a Max’s Restaurant costs between P12 million and P18 million.

Despite the influx of other local as well as foreign-led restaurants also offering different types of chicken dishes, Trota said Max’s continues to expand its sales. “The pie is just growing bigger,” he said.

Max’s Restaurant was established in 1945 by Trota’s grandmother, whose signature fried chicken dish became popular with American GIs staying in the Philippines after the Second World War. It started franchising in 1998.

source: interaksyon.com

Qatar Exchange index returns to positive terrain

The Qatar Exchange was back on a positive trajectory, mainly steered by buying interest from local retail investors. On Sunday, the index had fallen, breaking an eight-day winning spree.

Consumer goods and industrials equities were the most sought after as the 20-stock QE Index (based on price data) rose 0.09% to 8,412.60 points. The market is, however, down 4.17% year-to-date.

Total Return Index and All Share Index (comprising wider constituents) also gained 0.11% and 0.09% to 2,024.52 and 11,385.29 points respectively. Both the indices factored in dividend income as well.

Major gainers included Doha Bank, al khaliji, Industries Qatar, Gulf Warehousing and Nakilat; even as Qatari Investors Group, Mazaya Qatar, Qatar Telecom and Vodafone Qatar bucked the trend.

Under the All Share Index category, the index of consumer goods rose 0.72%, industrials (0.24%), banks and financial services (0.23%) and transport (0.21%); whereas the indices of telecom, insurance and real estate fell 0.98%, 0.70% and 0.11% respectively.

Market capitalisation was up 0.18% or QR84mn to QR460.78bn with micro, mid and large cap equities notably gaining 0.69%, 0.24% and 0.13% respectively, whereas small caps fell 0.10%.

Of the 42 stocks, 20 advanced, while 13 declined, six were unchanged and three were not traded.

Qatari individual investors continued to be bearish but with much lesser intensity as their net selling plunged to 0.76% from 13.72% the previous day. Their net selling amounted to QR1.19mn.

A much higher 52.13% of them purchased equities compared to 39.43% on Sunday whereas a marginally lower 52.89% sold against 53.15%.

Non-Qatari retail investors turned bullish that they were net buyers to the tune of 2.38% compared with net sellers of 1.56% the previous day. Their net buying was QR3.74mn.

A marginally higher 16.98% of them were into buying against 16.79% on Sunday while a marginally lower 14.60% were into offloading against 15.23%.

Foreign institutions were increasingly profit takers as their net selling rose to 5.69% from 1.66% the previous day. Their net selling was QR8.94mn.

A lower 12.61% of them were into buying against 18.54% on Sunday and a lower 18.30% of them into selling compared to 22.20%.

Domestic institutions continued to be bullish but with lesser intensity as their net buying sunk to 4.06% from 13.83% the previous day. Their net buying was QR6.38mn.

A lower 18.28% of them bought equities compared to 25.24% on Sunday while a higher 14.22% offloaded against 11.41%.

Total trading volume shrank 30% to 3.76mn equities and value by 8% to QR157.14mn but deals rose 5% to 3,054.
The telecom sector’s trading volume plummeted 68% to 0.23mn shares, value by 70% to QR9.89mn and transactions by 21% to 235.

The real estate sector’s trading volume plunged 58% to 0.60mn shares, value by 56% to QR10.42mn and deals by 33% to 288.

The industrials sector’s trading volume tanked 52% to 0.59mn shares and value by 13% to QR35.42mn while transactions were up 3% to 619.

The transport sector’s trading volume declined 15% to 0.33mn shares and value by less than 1% to QR8.06mn but deals rose 1% to 339.

However, the insurance sector’s trading volume more than tripled to 0.25mn shares and value also more than tripled to QR11.41mn on more than doubled transactions to 179.

The banks and financial services sector’s trading volume surged 21% to 1.35mn shares, value by 36% to QR53.59mn and deals by 25% to 943.

The consumer goods and services sector’s trading volume rose 8% to 0.41mn shares, value by 27% to QR28.34mn and transactions by 10% to 451.

Actively traded stocks (in terms of volume) were Masraf Al Rayan (454,192 shares); Islamic Holding Group (377,089); Mazaya Qatar (338,288); Nakilat (228,347) and Al Khaleej Takaful (235,293).

In the debt market, there was no trading of treasury bills.

source: gulf-times.com

HSBC launches ‘Mena bonds, sukuk platform’ for Qatar customers

HSBC has launched “Mena bonds and sukuks platform” offering relatively easy access for the bank’s retail customers in Qatar.

The offer provides a “comprehensive” wealth management proposition to HSBC customers and allows them to achieve a more balanced investment portfolio and diversify their investment risk.



“We have had a number of requests from our customers, our Qatari national customers in particular, to offer access to investment opportunities with potential for steady income streams from products such as bonds and sukuks. This offer addresses an important need in the Qatar market and provides our premier customers a new opportunity to diversify their investment portfolios,” said Kris Werner, HSBC Qatar head for retail banking and wealth management.

HSBC offers a comprehensive range of over 200 bonds and sukuks issued by governments and corporates in the Mena Region.

Bonds are typically issued in a minimum denomination of $100,000.

Bonds and sukuks offer customers an opportunity to potentially earn regular income through coupon payments.

source: gulf-times.com