It’s been an exciting year for Al Meera Consumer Goods, which has been building on its recent deals with Geant (via the Casino Group) and British bookstores outfit WH Smith to bring new stores to Qatar. It launched three stores belonging to the latter brand in May this year. It is hoping to open Geant supermarkets in Tunisia, Libya, Jordan and Egypt, and has recently expanded heavily into Oman. In the first half, Al Meera reported net profits of $30.1m, nearly doubling the same figure last year. The company was founded in 2004, and is 26 percent owned by the Qatari government.