Latest in Tag: Business Highlight
Latest in Tag: Business
Dodgy data obscures reality of Gulf’s economic boom
Reuters – Saudi Arabia’s economy chugged along at modest annual growth rates of around 2.5% in the first three quarters of 2013. Then in the fourth quarter it soared, with gross domestic product jumping 10% from a year earlier. That is the picture delivered by data from the government’s statistics office. But it is not …
UAE’s ADCB to price $750m 5-year bond
Reuters – Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank has set final terms for a $750m five-year bond which will price on Monday, a document from lead arrangers said, as demand among international investors for Gulf paper remains strong. The transaction will price at the tight end of revised guidance of 140-145 basis points over midswaps, according to …
Dubai’s Arabtec in talks to buy Kuwaiti firm
Reuters – Arabtec Holding, Dubai’s largest listed construction firm, is in the advanced stages of talks to fully acquire a construction company in Kuwait’s Kharafi Group, two sources aware of the discussions said. The Dubai firm is in talks with Kharafi National, a Kuwait-based contractor and facilities management firm which has operations in several Middle …
Saudi Aujan Coca-Cola plans $100m factory in Egypt
Egypt’s army-backed government is trying to attract foreign money back into the country and create jobs to ease social discontent as it manages the biggest Arab nation’s difficult transition to elections this year.
Amer Group posts 79% drop in 2013 profit
Reuters – Egyptian real estate company Amer Group posted a 79% drop in net profit for 2013. Amer Group, which owns hotels, restaurants, malls, and other businesses, made EGP 31.996m ($4.60m) last year, compared with EGP 155.554m in 2012, it said in a statement on Monday. Revenues for 2013 dropped to EGP 877.7m compared with …
Egypt draft law bars third-party challenges to contracts
Reuters – Egypt’s draft investment law contains provisions to prevent third parties from challenging contracts made between the government and an investor, a cabinet source said on Monday, a move designed to attract badly needed investment. The clauses are intended to reassure investors unnerved by previous legal challenges to such deals, some of which have …
G20 vows to add $2tn to world economy to lift growth
US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew stressed at a press conference that the G20 had left the austerity debate behind and was fully focused on growth.
Gulf investor interest highlights Egypt’s retail upside
Dubai-based retail group Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) has plans to invest around $2.3bn in Egypt over the coming years
Pioneers Holding to buy 60% of Roaya Group: CEO
Reuters – Pioneers Holding plans to acquire a 60% stake in real estate investment firm Roaya Group by the end of the first quarter of this year, Waleed Zaki, the firm’s chief executive told Reuters in an interview. The deal is expected to cost around EGP 1bn ($144m), he said. Pioneers specialises in brokerage services, …
EFG seeks to increase assets under management in Egypt
Reuters – EFG Hermes, one of the largest investment banks in the Middle East, is seeking to expand its assets under management in Egypt by 25% this year, a senior executive said on Tuesday. Nabil Moussa, head of asset management for EFG in Egypt, told reporters that of the $3bn in assets the bank manages …
Central Bank of Egypt earmarks $1.44bn for low-cost housing
Reuters – Egypt’s central bank said on Tuesday it would allocate EGP 10bn ($1.44bn) for low-cost housing projects, one of the demands in protests that led to the ouster of autocratic President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Better living conditions, an end to official corruption and more democratic rights figured prominently in those protests. About half …
Gulf ties could aid Islamic finance in Italy
Reuters – Bankers and academics in Italy are stepping up efforts to develop Islamic finance in the country, a campaign which could benefit from growing economic links between Gulf countries and the euro zone’s third largest economy. Islamic finance has so far made only marginal progress in continental Europe, mainly in France and Germany. But …
Egypt receives UAE financing to support capital spending, a credit positive: Moody’s
This is the second increase in budgeted expenditures in the current 2013-14 fiscal year, which ends June 2014.
Iran seeks new Russia reactor in exchange for oil
Russian officials had previously neither confirmed nor denied the discussions,but they stressed that such deliveries would not break existing UN sanctions on the Islamic state.
UAE’s Gulf Marine Services plans London IPO
GMS plans to sell new shares worth $100m, as well as an undisclosed number of shares currently held by private equity backers
Egypt sells 1-year dollar bills, yields fall from last month
Reuters – The Egyptian government sold $1.1bn of one-year dollar treasury bills at an auction on Monday, with the average yield dropping to 2.474%, the central bank said. Submitted bids amounted to $1.37bn. The Ministry of Finance had set the issue size at $800m. On 12 January, Egypt sold $1.07bn of the same maturity at …
UAE Telco Du agrees terms on $720m loan financing
Reuters – UAE telecom firm du has agreed terms on a $720m loan which will be used to replace two existing debt facilities and lower the company’s funding costs, two banking sources said on Sunday. The five-year loan will be provided by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia’s Samba …
Merkel, Hollande to discuss European communication network avoiding US
Merkel said in her weekly podcast that she disapproved of companies such as Google and Facebook basing their operations in countries with low levels of data protection while being active in countries such as Germany with high data protection.
Zain Bahrain IPO moves closer with notice in government gazette
Zain Bahrain missed a 2013 deadline to do so, but a source last week told Reuters that the company planned to launch its share sale by the end of June in what could be the island’s first IPO since 2010.
Hopes pinned on private sector as Libya economy slumps
AFP – Small businesses are prospering in Libya’s major cities even as the economy at large is being throttled because of security problems and industrial action which has shrunk lifeline oil revenues. Its financial woes combined with lawlessness has so far discouraged the return of multinationals, three years after the outbreak of an armed revolt …
Yemen gas price pressure mounts on France’s Total
Total’s leading role in building the $4.5bn Yemen LNG export plant in 2005-09 made it the largest foreign investor in the country, which is one of the poorest in the Arab world.
UAE bourses should unify back offices even without merger: ADX CEO
Fund managers and analysts have said consolidating back office operations of the ADX and the DFM could cut costs and, by creating a single framework for settling trades, make it easier for more foreign investors to enter the UAE.
Citadel Capital says completes $530m investments
Reuters – Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital said on Sunday it had completed an EGP 3.7bn ($530m) programme of buying additional stakes in its subsidiaries. The purchases are part of Citadel’s transformation into an investment company that will hold majority stakes in subsidiaries in five core industries: energy, transportation, agrifoods, mining and cement, the …
The Golden Age of Gas, Possibly: Interview with the IEA
The potential for a golden age of gas comes along with a big “if” regarding environmental and social impact. The International Energy Agency (IEA)—the “global energy authority”–believes that this age of gas can be golden, and that unconventional gas can be produced in an environmentally acceptable way. In an exclusive interview with Oilprice.com, IEA Executive …
MidEast Stocks: CIB’s strong earnings lift Egypt; Aldar drags down Abu Dhabi
Reuters – Egypt’s bourse rose on Wednesday as the country’s biggest listed bank posted strong fourth-quarter earnings, while markets in the United Arab Emirates weakened after a disappointing earnings report from Abu Dhabi property developer Aldar. Egypt’s index added 1.0% to 7,571 points after Commercial International Bank (CIB) posted a 29% rise in quarterly net …
CIB posts 29% rise in Q4 net profit
The bank’s revenues for the fourth quarter rose by 15% to EGP 1.74bn.
Fitch: Egypt’s ratings stabilised but rapid recovery unlikely
Egypt’s Long-term ratings of ‘B-’ are low and reflect substantial risks and challenges.
Mubadala assessing options for $1.25bn bond maturity
The maturity is part of a $1.75bn, two-tranche bond which the fund sold in 2009, with the remaining $500m set to mature in 2019.
Court delays Istanbul airport project
The state airports authority responded to the court ruling by saying the project was continuing as planned.
Kuwait’s takaful firms struggle in crowded market
Reuters – Kuwait’s first Islamic insurer was born 14 years ago, but its takaful firms are still struggling in a crowded market that faces cut-throat competition. This has led to stagnant growth and persistent losses for takaful firms operating in Kuwait, one of the world’s richest countries on a per capita basis, raising doubts about …