Category: Economy

French retail giant Carrefour SA has begun making plans to exit its India wholesale operations, the Times of India reported on Saturday.Carrefour operates five wholesale cash-and-carry outlets in India and, after foreign investment rules were eased in 2012, it had been widely expected to set up a chain of supermarkets.The company has seen senior-level exits from its India business recently and some employees may be asked to leave over the next few weeks, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.A report

Abu Dhabi government-owned General Holding Corporation (Senaat) has shelved plans for a stock market debut, four sources aware of the matter said, as the emirate takes a cautious line on financial commitments in the wake of its bailout of Dubai.Despite enjoying significant hydrocarbon wealth, the largest of the seven United Arab Emirates has been wary of its financial position since providing Dubai with a $20 billion bailout to avoid a full economic crisis at the end of the last decade.That

Dana Gas Islamic bond was the best-performing dollar sukuk in the world last month as the energy company’s rising stock price prompted investors to exchange their debt into shares at a profit.The fuel producer’s $425 million convertible bond due October 2017 made 3.46 percent last month, compared with an average 0.41 percent return for all dollar-denominated sukuk, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The share conversion price is 75 fils, and Dana Gas gained 4.9 percent in April to 86

When French wine and cognac bottle maker Saverglass decided to expand three years ago, it chose a relatively remote, less affluent location in the United Arab Emirates for its plant rather than the business hubs of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The company sited its 75 million euro ($105 million) factory, which produces some 400,000 bottles a day, in the desert emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, an hour's drive north from Dubai along the Gulf coast. "At the time we did not think

Deutsche Lufthansa’s new chief executive officer identified the menace of fast-expanding Gulf carriers such as Dubai-based Emirates as his biggest challenge, threatening to reopen a war of words with Mid-East operators.Carsten Spohr, who takes over from Christoph Franz as CEO of the German company on May 1, said the emerging long-haul heavyweights represent a different proposition to short-haul discount operators such as Ryanair Holdings Plc.“Those we can handle, they are on a level playing field,” he told an impromptu press

Mubadala Development Co rejected bids from GDF Suez SA and Veolia Environnement SA (VIE) for its cooling business in favor of talks with National Central Cooling Co. (TABREED), three people with knowledge of the matter said.The Abu Dhabi state-owned fund, which owns a 15 percent stake and convertible bonds in National Central, may complete a sale for about $300 million, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. The sale could be concluded within the

|By TAP Staff| Gulf-based borrowers, who have been returning to the international debt market in recent days after several months of relatively light issuance, are reporting strong investor interest.Amid geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and economic instability in some emerging markets, Gulf economies have stood out because of their stability, thanks to their trade and state budget surpluses. The contrast appears to created attractive conditions for them to issue bonds.Dubai-based shopping mall developer Majid Al Futtaim priced a $500 million bond

 Etisalat has signed a two-part 3.15 billion euros ($4.36 billion) loan to help fund its acquisition of a 53 percent stake in Maroc Telecom , the Gulf telecom operator said in a bourse statement on Monday.This loan is split between a 2.1 billion euro one-year bridge loan and a 1.05 bln three-year portion, Etisalat said.The United Arab Emirates' firm will utilise the funds at the closing of its purchase of the stake in Maroc Telecom from France's Vivendi.On Sunday, Reuters

An Abu Dhabi state-owned fund is financing a quarter of Etisalat's 4.2 billion euro purchase of Vivendi's stake in Maroc Telecom, said three bank sources with knowledge of the deal, adding it should close this week.The identity of the fund is a closely-guarded secret. The banks that will provide the remaining 3.15 billion euros of loan finance have not been told which of the emirate's state-owned entities is supplying the cash.The fund is most likely to be Mubadala, two of

Buyers are lining up for Germany-based packaging group Mauser with final bids due to be submitted on Monday, banking sources said on Friday.The sale of Mauser by Dubai International Capital (DIC) could fetch around 1.25 billion euros ($1.73 billion), one of the banking sources said. At this price, the sale would be one of the largest asset disposals by the emirate since its debt crisis in 2009.Mauser's sale has attracted interest from a number of parties, with private equity firm

Emirates NBD, Dubai's biggest bank, will only reverse provisions on its exposure to conglomerate Dubai World after seeing further progress on asset sales and debt repayment, it said on Thursday.Emirates NBD is Dubai World's biggest creditor with an exposure of more than 9 billion dirhams ($2.5 billion), against which it has set aside provisions of 5 percent.If that debt is reclassified as performing, it will provide a significant one-off boost to the bank's profits.Last month, after making only interest payments

Dubai-owned port operator DP World is in talks with lenders to triple the size of an existing $1 billion loan, as well as extend the lifespan and cut the interest rate, seeking to take advantage of investors' renewed confidence in the emirate.The firm, part of state-owned conglomerate Dubai World , is aiming to raise the loan to $3 billion, four banking sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the information isn't public.The original five-year revolving credit facility was signed

Qatar has resolved its dispute with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, according to Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah.The spat was nothing more than “differences in opinion,” Attiyah told reporters in Kuwait. The resolution came at an April 17 meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, and the results aren’t “considered concessions by anyone,” he said. It’s up to Qatar’s fellow Gulf Arab countries to decide on sending their ambassadors back to Doha, he said.Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E.

Dubai's government hopes its first 15-year sukuk issue - an unusually long tenor for an Islamic bond - will pave the way for long-term debt sales by its state companies, the Department of Finance said on Wednesday.Dubai drew $2.3 billion of investor demand for the $750 million issue on Tuesday, pricing it at 5.0 percent, the tight end of initial guidance.Demand was lower than in Dubai's last international debt offer in January 2013, which raised $1.25 billion with a two-tranche

Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG), part of a conglomerate owned by the emirate's ruler, will repay $319 million of debt more than 18 months early, the latest state-linked company to settle restructured loans ahead of time.Sovereign-linked entities in Dubai were forced to renegotiate billions of dollars of liabilities at the turn of the decade after a local property crash and a lack of refinancing options in the wake of the global financial crisis.Maturity dates for much of the restructured

Oman’s plan to build a $1 billion natural-gas pipeline from Iran is the latest sign that Saudi Arabia is failing to bind its smaller Gulf neighbors into a tighter bloc united in hostility to the Islamic Republic.The accord was signed during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Oman last month, and marks the first such deal between Iran and a Gulf Cooperation Council state in more than a decade. Oman is in good standing with the U.S. too: a $2.1

[caption id="attachment_2596" align="alignleft" width="300"] Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower owned by Emaar[/caption]Emaar Properties, Dubai’s biggest publicly traded developer, reported first-quarter profit that beat estimates after real estate sales in its home market almost doubled by value.Net income climbed 55 percent to 863 million dirhams ($235 million), the company said in a statement today. The average of four analysts was 739 million dirhams, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Emaar countered a slump in Dubai’s property market by focusing on assets

Indians have topped the list of foreign investors in real estate in Dubai, pumping in $1.6 billion during the first quarter of 2014, according to a government agency.According to Dubai Land Department (DLD), 111 nationalities secured property deals in the first quarter of 2014.Indians were at the top spot for international investment, both in terms of the number of investors (2,414) and the amount of expenditure ($1.6 billion or 5.895 billion dirhams), according to the data.British ranked the second, making

Qatar reduced the number of stadiums it plans to build for the 2022 soccer World Cup by a third amid rising costs and delays.The country, which won the right in 2010 to host the world’s most-watched sporting event, plans to build eight stadiums for the games, Ghanim Al Kuwari, the organizing committee’s senior manager for projects, said at a conference in Doha yesterday. The country originally announced plans for 12 stadiums, including nine new playing fields and three refurbishments. Al

Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi’s biggest developer, is returning to development with three new projects and studying plans for an additional 20 amid a nascent recovery in the emirate’s property market, the company’s chairman said today.Aldar, which took over a smaller rival in June, will start sales of three residential developments in Abu Dhabi valued at a total of 5 billion dirhams ($1.36 billion). The projects include 540 apartments in the first phase of Ansam and 230 units in Al Hadeel,

Bahrain's Gulf International Bank plans to issue a 2 billion-riyal ($545 million) floating rate notes with a lifespan of five years through a private placement in Saudi Arabia, a prospectus showed on Sunday.The bank mandated its own investment banking arm, GIB Capital, as well as those of National Commercial Bank, Samba Financial Group and Banque Saudi Fransi to act as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners. Investor meetings will take place in Saudi Arabia on April 21 and 22.

Zain is being sued for $4.5 billion over its 2007 acquisition of an Iraqi telecom operator, the Kuwaiti firm said in a bourse statement on Sunday.Zain bought Iraqna for $1.2 billion from Orascom Telecom in December 2007 after the Egyptian firm dropped out of the running for a long-term mobile license in Iraq.The Kuwaiti firm then merged its Iraqi unit, Atheer, with Iraqna and renamed the entity Zain Iraq, which today is the country's biggest operator by subscribers.Zain said in

Qatar is paying the price for its six-week spat with neighbors in the Gulf Cooperation Council as the nation’s borrowing costs and credit risk increase.The yield on the country’s dollar bond due January 2020 climbed nine basis points since March 4, the day before the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain pulled their ambassadors after Qatar denounced the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Rates on similar-maturity dollar debt from Abu Dhabi and Dubai fell in the period.The

|By TAP Staff| The Dubai World Trade Centre on Saturday announced that 2.2 million trade delegates and attendees visited exhibitions centre last year – marking the first time the figure has crossed the 2 million milestone.Dubai World Trade Centre hosted 373 meetings, incentives, conferencing, and exhibitions (MICE )and business events throughout 2013, up from 302 in the previous year. Exhibitors from more than 130 nations attended. Some mega-consumer shows attracting upwards of 100,000 people, such as GITEX Shopper, which also

Hotels in Dubai achieved an average occupancy of more than 87 percent during March, despite supply outpacing demand for the month, according to new data released by STR Global.Its preliminary February data for Dubai showed that occupancy stood at 87.2 percent for the month, a 1.2 percent increase on the year-earlier period.Based on the new data, the emirate reported increases in supply (up 7.4 percent) and demand (up 6.2 percent) last month.The figures also indicated positive revenue per available room

The masterplan for the $1.6bn Bluewaters Island project off the coast of Dubai's Jumeirah Beach Residences is to undergo a redesign.The island, which is being developed by government-owned developer Meraas, is currently split into three zones.One contains the Dubai Eye - the world's tallest, 210m-high Ferris Wheel - and is surrounded by other retail and leisure units. A second zone, facing out onto the Arabian Gulf, is currenty earmarked for hotels, and a third, mixed-use zone predominantly contains residential units.However,

Standard and Poor's may upgrade India's outlook if the government that is elected next month addresses some of the country's fiscal and economic challenges through steps such as passing a goods and services tax."If in the future they implement policies that effectively addresses some of the credit weaknesses that I have highlighted, we could revise the outlook to stable again," said S&P senior director Kim Eng Tan in a webcast."In the absence of effective policy action, we could lower the

Amina al-Rustamani, a member of a prominent UAE family, raised eyebrows among friends and relatives when she started her career in Dubai 13 years ago as an electrical engineer, becoming one of few females in the Middle East to enter the profession.Success in a male-dominated environment helped give her the confidence to rise up the career ladder and break more barriers.She is now chief executive of TECOM Investments, part of a conglomerate owned by the ruler of Dubai which manages

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is gaining ground in the debt markets of Gulf Cooperation Council states after the biggest U.S. bank helped manage this month’s Islamic bond sale by Saudi Arabia’s utility.JPMorgan is the biggest bond underwriter after HSBC Holdings  in the six-nation GCC in 2014, its best start to a year since 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The New York-based lender advised on six deals, including Saudi Electricity (SECO) Co.’s $2.5 billion sukuk sale on April 1.Its

Zain Saudi, Saudi Arabia's third biggest telecoms operator, will buy fixed line capacity from its competitors to expand its service offering in the kingdom and aims to break even in less than five years, it said on Wednesday.The firm, which began operations in 2008, claimed 15 percent of Saudi's mobile subscribers at 2013-end and has struggled to break the dominance of better-resourced rivals Saudi Telecom Co (STC) and Etihad Etisalat (Mobily).But Chief Executive Hassan Kabbani, an industry veteran appointed in

Three former brokers at ICAP, the world's largest interdealer broker, appeared in a London court on Tuesday charged with running a four-year scheme to manipulate Libor benchmark interest rates.The men, who spoke only to confirm personal details such as addresses, bring to nine the number of people facing criminal charges in Britain over allegations they rigged the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), which is used to price about $450 trillion of products from complex derivatives to home loans.The hearing at

Dubai-based entertainment venue IMG Theme Park has successfully closed a 1.2 billion dirham ($327 million) syndicated Islamic facility, as the company prepares for an increase in the influx of tourists into the emirate.Proceeds will go towards refinancing an existing corporate facility and to provide expansion for a Worlds of Adventure theme park, a $1 billion project that is expected to become the biggest indoor entertainment centre in the world, according to the firm.The investment comes at a time when the

The wrenching selloff in U.S. high-growth technology and biotech shares could leave investors braced for more than a minor pullback when earnings pick up speed this week.First-quarter earnings estimates have fallen sharply as many companies have blamed the brutal winter for weak outlooks.With high-valuation stocks under pressure, earnings could be subjected to even more investor scrutiny than usual."There's skepticism among investors about the outlook, and we're getting into the first-quarter earnings season, so you're going to see some positioning," said

|TAP Special| The Mayor of Oakland, California, caused a stir last week claiming that Dubai crown prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum has partnered with the developers of a sports and entertainment centre at Oakland Coliseum complex.According to a report in Oakland Tribune, Mayor Jean Quan, however, retracted her claim a day later. The Mayor’s spokesman said one of the developers did have connections with the crown prince, but Sheikh Hamdan was not a partner.The paper said the inclusion