Marmore Mena Intelligence

Infrastructure Research

Over the past decades, the GCC has remained a highly lucrative market for infrastructure investments and build-up aided by demographic growth as well as oil income. Marmore’s infrastructure research attempts to provide intelligence and analysis on various developments in the sector to support investment strategies. The various infrastructure streams covered include power, water, ports, ICT, aviation, roads and railways, and real estate.Marmore’s infrastructure research generally focuses on hlighting infrastructure bottlenecks and areas requiring urgent investments in terms of providing a fillip to the host economies. An example is the firm’s report on GCC Seaports, in which key areas requiring investments were highlighted. Apart from GCC oriented reports, Marmore provides country specific reports which can be useful for investors looking for research on a particular sector in a country. For e.g., Marmore’s report on Kuwait Water helped highlight the fact that the total investment in Kuwait’s water sector between 2005 and 2014 stood at $5.28 billion.

Marmore’s infrastructure research studies keenly the link between economic development and infrastructure in a country. A number of reports of Marmore on infrastructure research highlight the fact that lack of infrastructural development would reduce economic gains. The reports track and report on supply and demand challenges in Kuwait, along with analysis of the various regulatory and project approvals scenario in the country.

Sector Research

Marmore’s sector reports focus on strategically important sectors in terms of the Mena region. These reports analyse multiple sectors for a plethora of investment opportunities, market analysis, general economic research and for policy making activities.Marmore’s sector reports cover niche areas that, nevertheless, are of value in terms of strategic investments. Examples of sectors covered include the banking, Retail, wealth management, offsets,etc. Marmore’s sector research provides an overview for the busy investor, while those pursuing deeper market information can peruse the reports for deeper insights and extensive analyses. An example of sector research from Marmore is the GCC Banking report. Marmore’s GCC Healthcare report sized the growing market and provided a round-up on the key projects across the GCC.

Economic Research

The economic research series from Marmore analyses a number of topical economic themes of the day in terms of the economic currents shaping developments. Marmore’s Economic Research encompasses thematic qualitative researches that can encourage informed discussion and further knowledge generation. They usually follow the format of strategic research notes and provide the key breakout thinking on a topic. Topical themes are picked up for discussion and analysis, and for quantification (wherever possible). For e.g., Marmore’s 2015 economic research on the roll back of fuel subsidies in Kuwait estimated that the “fuel price increases may escalate costs facing the Kuwaiti construction industry by about 1% of GDP,” Marmore’s report on the fiscal breakeven oil price flagged the large differences in estimation that can stem from whether investment income are included or excluded in calculations .

Capital Market Research

Through its Capital Market reports series, Marmore attempts to provide perspectives to investors and other interested stakeholders regarding Mena capital markets. Marmore’s capital market reports are comprehensive in nature in terms of covering the breadth of issues and data that informed investors need in terms of understanding dynamic capital markets of the region. The reports also provide an analysis of historical trends and future projections. Examples include GCC M&A Report—2014, MENA Asset Management Policy Perspectives, etc. A specific example includes the GCC asset management industry study, which provides a deep dive into the asset management industry across the GCC in terms of assets under management (AUM), number and types of funds managed, top managers across the various markets, fund costs, etc.

Policy & Regulatory Research

The Policy & Regulatory research from Marmore are useful tools for policy makers and high level decision makers to have in terms of intelligent briefs on the latest developments in policy and regulations. Marmore’s Policy Research provides background research, information and analysis for various stakeholders across both the private and the public sectors with respect to issues in key areas like energy, labour, economic diversification, etc. An example includes Oil & Gas Markets and the Emergence of New Resources. Marmore’s policy reports usually tend to highlight pragmatic applications through policy analysis from multiple angles. For instance, the 2014 report on Datathe Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) law analysed the impact of the scarcity of land available for industrial and entrepreneurial purposes due to the outsized holdings by multiple government agencies.

Marmore’s Regulatory Research attempts to synthesize and summarize insights from analysis of key business, economic, and market information that can shape the regulatory environment. An example includes the quarterly publication called the GCC Regulatory Digest, the impact that the regulatory environment can have in the reform of the educational system, Kuwait’s new law on preference shares, etc.

Company Reports

Marmore Company Reports attempt to provide comprehensive analysis of leading listed companies in the GCC region, covering financial analysis to discussions on strategiesbusiness models. The company reports undertake extensive analysis of various companies, ranging from strategic analysis to analysis of key ratios. The quantitative and qualitative aspects analysed paint a holistic picture of a company that can aid investors and researchers to form informed and reliable opinions. In addition to historical analysis, financial projections are done for the next three years based on concrete analysis. Examples of reports include Qatar National Bank, SABIC, etc. Marmore’s company reports analyze the financial fundamentals of a company, along with the strategic direction and the external environment that a company faces. Analytical tools such as SWOT analysis are also used.

A key highlight of the company reports are the financial analyses that cover multiple financial ratios in depth. These lead to benchmarking of the companies profiled with several regional and international peers. The financial analysis and the benchmarking with peers in terms of both financial performance and strategic direction allows for estimating forecasts with better confidence. Thus, the share market overviews that cap the reports can support increased understanding regarding a company’s current and potential future capital market performance.

Periodic Research

The periodic reports from Marmore cover a range of research requirements, including snapshots of everyday capital market performance to annual publications that summarize the key economic and regulatory trends affecting a country in the Mena region or the region itself, as a whole. In essence, the periodic reports provide regular information on the regional capital markets, economic issues or events shaping developments and the trends that may impact future outlook.

Marmore releases periodic publications on a daily, monthly, quarterly and semi-annual basis. The periodic publications cover a range of research requirements. For instance, the daily publications cover everyday developments in the stock markets that are essential knowledge for serious investors (e.g., Daily Morning Brief). On the other end of the scale, the semi-annual publications (like the GCC Market Outlook series) integrate and analyze developments over a time period to synthesize research insights and knowledge.

Research on Demand (RoD)

Marmore also undertakes customized research for its clients, providing strategic and operational value in the process. Marmore uses an intensive methodology that combines primary and secondary research within a creative framework of engaging essential stakeholders in the process of deriving and delivering insights. The RoD practice of Marmore enjoys significant credibility in the market due to Marmore’s wider reputation as a reliable provider of information on MENA business and economic issues. Marmore has conducted customized research studies for large institutions across the GCC for assignments related to strategic studies, business plans, white-label reports, and many more. The following types of RoD can be conducted by Marmore.