Latest in Tag: Business Highlight
Latest in Tag: Business
Dubai says agreement in principle on UAE bourse merger; no final word on bond issue
Reuters – A top Dubai economic policymaker said on Monday that an agreement to merge the two main stock markets in the United Arab Emirates, the Dubai Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, had been reached in principle but nothing had been finalised. “It is going to be very positive. The agreement has …
Dubai’s Emirates REIT expands IPO due to strong demand
Reuters – Dubai-based real estate investment trust Emirates REIT said it had expanded the size of its initial public offer of shares on NASDAQ Dubai, the emirate’s first IPO since its financial crisis erupted in 2009, because of strong demand. Emirates REIT will raise $175m in the IPO, which was 3.5 times oversubscribed, by selling …
Time running out to meet global warming target: UN report
Temperature rises would sharply raise risks to food and water supplies and could trigger irreversible damage
Barclays to sell UAE retail ops to Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank for $177m
Reuters – Barclays has agreed to sell its retail banking operations in the United Arab Emirates to Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) for an expected price of AED 650m ($177m), ADIB said on Sunday. The emirate’s largest Islamic bank said it aimed to acquire 110,000 customers through the deal, helping it expand into serving expatriates, …
Egyptian foreign reserves edge up in March: Central Bank head
Reuters – Egypt’s foreign reserves rose to around $17.42bn in March from $17.307bn in February, central bank governor Hisham Ramez said, edging further away from critical lows they hit last year. The reserves fell sharply following the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in early 2011, but have been bolstered since last summer when Gulf …
Major economies end first quarter on weaker note
Reuters – Major economies in Asia and Europe finished the first quarter on a weaker note, with key manufacturing surveys fuelling expectations policymakers may be forced to act in coming months to prop up faltering growth. Factories across Europe eased back on the throttle in March while China’s vast manufacturing industry contracted for the third …
TransCentury sells Rift Valley Railways stake to Egypt’s Citadel
Reuters – Kenya’s TransCentury said on Tuesday that it has sold its 34% stake in Rift Valley Railways (RVR) to Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital. Citadel said it bought the shares for $37.8m, raising its stake to 85%. Uganda’s Bomi Holdings owns the rest. RVR, operator of the sole rail line linking Kenya’s Indian …
French, Spanish car sales rally, Chevrolet fades: Trade data
AFP – French car sales picked up strongly in March after a grim year for the industry in 2013, but volumes remained low, trade data showed on Tuesday. The figures showed that French carmakers, including struggling Peugeot, did well, but that sales by General Motors fell heavily reflecting a contested decision to withdraw the Chevrolet …
Egypt covers all dollar backlogs for foreign investor repatriations
In a push to restore confidence in the economy, authorities opened a repatriation scheme in March 2013 guaranteeing foreign investors in Egyptian stock and government bond markets access to dollars despite the severe shortages of the US currency.
Egypt’s Suez Cement Raises Dividend
Reuters – Suez Cement, Egypt’s biggest listed cement maker by market value, will pay a cash dividend of EGP 2.65 ($0.38) per share, it said in a statement published on the bourse on Tuesday. The company, which lists Italcementi Group as its main shareholder, said it would make the payment in two phases. One pound …
Egypt’s economy needs mutual funds: EGX chairman
Mutual funds will help boost economic growth, Omran says
Egypt’s bourse posted its biggest percentage loss in seven months
Reuters – Egypt’s bourse posted its biggest percentage loss in seven months on Monday as local investors continued to book profits on positions built in anticipation of former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s run for president. The main Cairo index tumbled 3.6% to 7,805 points, dropping for a third session in a row, as all but two of …
Egyptian Embassy in Seoul to revitalise economy
Egyptian Embassy organises a seminar to discuss investment prospects in Egypt with Korean businessmen
Dubai bourse to hold roadshow in London
Reuters – Bourse operator Dubai Financial Market (DFM) will hold a roadshow for international investors in London together with Goldman Sachs to showcase companies listed in the emirate, it said on Monday. Executives from 13 companies listed on the DFM and NASDAQ Dubai will meet investors on April 28-29, it said. United Arab Emirates bourses …
Egyptian pound strengthens slightly at Central Bank dollar sale
Dollar shortages have been fuelling a thriving black market.
Libyan fund sues France’s SocGen for $1.5bn
AFP – Libya’s sovereign wealth fund is suing French bank Societe Generale in a British court for $1.5bn (€1.1bn) for allegedly channelling bribes to allies of the son of slain dictator Moamer Qadhafi, officials said on Monday. The Libyan Investment Authority is seeking compensation from the bank and from WalidGiahmi, an alleged associate of Saif …
Climate change boosts conflict risk, floods, hunger: UN
The report is the second chapter of the fifth assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), set up in 1988 to provide neutral, science-based guidance to governments.
Egypt stocks continues to drop
Reuters – The Cairo bourse, which dropped 2.7% last Thursday after Sisi said he would run for president, fell a further 1.9% on Sunday to trim 2014 gains to 19%. But there were signs the correction was slowing and the market closed above the intraday low. “Towards the end of today we saw a bit …
Egypt energy subsidy bill to rise by 10-12% next year: Minister
Reuters – Egypt’s Finance Minister said on Sunday spending on energy subsidies next year will be 10-12% above the EGP 130bn ($18.66bn) budgeted for the current fiscal year, unless immediate reforms are made. Successive governments have stressed the importance of reducing energy subsidies, which account for more than 20% of state spending, but none have …
The new ‘silk road’, a rail link from China’s factories to heart of Europe
Duisburg is a steel-making town of around half a million on the confluence of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers that boasts the world’s biggest inland port and is one of Germany’s most important transport and commercial hubs.
Hunt is on for new emerging tigers: MINT, PPICS and CIVETS
AFP – For more than 10 years the rise of big emerging markets has re-shaped the global economy but these are now slowing with maturity, and the hunt is on to identify which upstarts will be tomorrow’s tigers. The big five, which recently helped the world through financial crisis but are now experiencing marked growing …
Russia’s Lukoil begins output from giant Iraq oilfield
Reuters – Russia’s Lukoil began commercial production from one of the world’s largest untapped oilfields in Iraq on Saturday, as the country raises output to record levels. Production from the giant West Qurna-2 is eventually expected to reach 1.2m barrels per day (bpd), from an initial 120,000 bpd. The field is one of several that …
Minister of Housing to address real estate industry
More than 250 industry leaders and CEOs to map Egypt’s economy at third edition of Egypt Real Estate Summit
Al-Futtaim Group signs EGP 532m facility agreement with CIB
Loan will finance phase two of Cairo Festival City Project, says Al-Futtaim Managing Director
Egypt says eyes Russian liquefied gas: Minister
Reuters – Egypt is considering buying liquefied natural gas from Russia, the country’s industry minister said on Wednesday. Egyptian industry and investment minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, on a visit to Moscow, did not give any other details. Egypt hopes to import more LNG during the summer months. Russia has only one LNG plant, located …
Souq.com raises $150m
The largest e-commerce platform in the MENA region plans to use funds to deepen technological investments
Economic Research Forum examines contemporary experiences of social justice
Presenting case studies in Africa and Mali, he said providing such universal services is stretching the limited resources these governments have.
North America impairment pushes Abu Dhabi’s TAQA into 2013 loss
Reuters – Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (TAQA) posted a net loss of AED 2.52bn ($687m) for 2013 as it marked down the value of its oil and gas holdings in North America, the company said on Tuesday. The state-controlled energy investment giant swung from a profit after minority interests of AED 649m in 2012. …
Deutsche Bahn joins Etihad Rail in UAE railway venture
Etihad Rail DB will manage operations for the first stage of the railway, transporting granulated sulphur on a 264-kilometre (164-mile) route from Shah and Habshan to the port of Ruwais.
Ministries of Electricity and Petroleum form agreement for provision of alternative fuels
The electricity sector currently operates at 86% of its capacity, while maintenance and operating deficiencies account for the remaining 14%.