Kuwait’s government spending in August stood at KD4.2 billion ($13.91 billion) fiscal-year-to-date (fytd), marking 22 per cent of the FY15/16 budget, slightly above the historic average of 14 per cent, a report said. The figure, while being 6 per cent lower than during the same period last year, indicates that spending cuts have not yet been fully reflected in the interim figures, added the latest Economic Update […]
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has raised Dh504 million ($137 million) in its rights issue, which was nearly three times oversubscribed with Dh1.46 billion in subscriptions received. The rights issue, the first tradable rights issue for a bank in the UAE, forms part of the comprehensive capital plan to support ADIB’s strong growth plans. Following the close of the subscription period on September 10, all 168 million […]
Microsoft has announced that Almoayyed Computers, the flagship division of Almoayyed International Group, has won the ‘Microsoft Country Partner of the Year 2015 Award for the Kingdom of Bahrain’. Awards were presented in several categories, with winners chosen from a set of more than 2,300 entrants from 108 different countries worldwide. Almoayyed Computers was honoured among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in […]
Egypt-listed Global Telecom (GTH) will move its operational headquarter to Amsterdam from Cairo, the firm said in a statement on Monday. “The strategic move is a natural evolution in GTH’s development following VimpleCom’s acquisition of a 51.9 per cent stake in 2011 and the reorganisation plan announced by the company on January 4, 2015,” it said. The firm will continue to have a registered office in Cairo […]
Bahrain’s leading telecommunications operator Batelco has announced its platium sponsorship for the upcoming Shreya Ghoshal Live in Concert event. The major musical event will take place during the Eid Al Adha holiday on September 24 at the Indian School grounds, and is expected to attract a huge multicultural audience, said a statement. Batelco annually supports a wide range of initiatives across a number of sectors including health, […]
A senior French economic and political delegation is in Tehran to lay the groundwork for the first business contracts between France and Iran since an accord to curb its nuclear programme in July. France’s main business lobby group, the Medef, is sending a delegation comprising more than 100 firms to Iran, including companies such as oil major Total, planemaker Airbus and car manufacturer Peugeot. “We’re trying to […]
|By TAP Staff| Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has successfully raised AED 504 million in the first tradable rights issue for a bank in the UAE. The rights issue, which forms part of the comprehensive capital plan to support ADIB’s strong growth trajectory, was nearly 3 times oversubscribed with AED 1.46 billion in subscriptions received. Following the close of the subscription period on 10 September 2015, all […]
The United Arab Emirates has no plans to abandon the currency’s peg to the dollar, central bank Governor Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori said. “The dirham peg to the US dollar has served the UAE well over time,” Al Mansoori said in an e-mailed answer to Bloomberg News questions. The central bank “maintains a firm commitment to the peg.” Investors have increased bets that the six Gulf Cooperation […]
INTERNATIONAL. Emerging Asian economies remain a challenging operating environment according to new risk ratings released today. In their first jointly produced economic and political risk ratings, Oxford Economics and Control Risks have evaluated the outlook for 164 countries worldwide, producing for each country a score based on a weighting of key political, economic, business and security risks. The ratings, drawn from the new Economic and Political Risk […]
Middle East By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI and ERIC SCHMITT September 17, 2015 The government of Iran released five senior members of Al Qaeda earlier this year, including the man who stepped in to serve as the terrorist group’s interim leader immediately after Osama bin Laden’s death, and who is the subject of a $5 million bounty, according to an American official who had been briefed on the matter. Iran’s release of the […]
Private equity funds managed by Blackstone is set to acquire a majority of Serco Group’s private sector business process outsourcing (BPO) operations. The definitive agreement will include the former Intelenet business, for a consideration of £250 million ($385.7 million), approximately INR2,558 crores, said a statement. The enterprise value of this deal represents the largest acquisition by Blackstone in India, it said. The business has expected annual revenues […]
Gulfnet Communications Co, a leading provider of information and communications technology services, has received the ISO 9001:2008 for the fifth consecutive year after an extensive audit of the company’s internal operations. The ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System certification demonstrates Gulfnet’s robust quality management system to guide and govern its operations across the company, said a statement. The certification is an important step in assuring that customers continue […]
Gulf Business Machines (GBM), a leading provider of IT solutions, leveraging industry-leading technologies in the region, has partnered with the Information Technology Authority (ITA) of Oman to launch a programme aimed at increasing interest and offering opportunities for Omani graduates within the ICT sector. The partnership comes as part of GBM’s ongoing efforts to provide the right tools and programmes to support the continued development of Oman’s […]
Autodesk, a leader in 3D design and engineering software, said that new commercial licences of most Autodesk Design and Creation Suites and individual products will be available by subscription only from July 31 next year. When this takes effect, the company will provide new, simplified subscription options so customers can access multiple products and share licences as they currently do — while gaining the simplicity, accessibility, and […]
The development of autonomous vehicles (AV) hinges on cooperation among technology players in the areas of cybersecurity, high-definition maps, and vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, said an industry expert. “But there are equally pressing questions about liability, vehicle certification, and regulatory frameworks,” explained said Nikolaus Lang, a senior partner at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm. “Multi-stakeholder collaboration is key to developing win-win solutions—and […]
Plummeting oil prices will cause cash flow for the global integrated oil & gas industry to contract by 20 per cent or more for 2015, with only a modest recovery expected in 2016, according to Moody’s Investors Service. This reflects the rating agency’s expectation of continued revenue declines and a negative free cash flow profile for the industry in 2015. Moody’s outlook for the global integrated oil […]
|By Matein Khalid| The world’s emerging markets have been savaged by multiple economic, banking, currency and political shocks since 2011. Global emerging markets are far too diverse and nuanced to be analyzed as a single asset class but now trade at a 24% valuation discount to developed markets. The financial markets now price draconian scenarios for earnings, exports, sovereign credit, industrial production and economic growth. The shortage […]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to drop a lawsuit accusing two Dubai men of insider trading in Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc while the cancer drugmaker was mulling a takeover bid by Amgen Inc . Without explanation, the SEC asked U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan to dismiss its case against Dhia Jafar and Omar Nabulsi without prejudice, and lift a $2.55 million asset freeze […]
|By TAP Staff| Global investors’ confidence in the world’s economic outlook has fallen significantly due to concerns over China and emerging markets, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for September. Asset allocators have adopted a “risk-off” stance in response. Some of the responses are: Threat of recession in China increases as biggest tail risk; concern over a potential emerging markets debt crisis also rises […]
Dubai’s diamond trade will grow as the emirate attracts dealers from the industry’s traditional hub in the Belgian port of Antwerp after one of the city’s main lenders closed, depriving buyers of needed financing, according to National Bank of Fujairah. “Do we anticipate a big shift of rough diamond traders to Dubai?” Davy Blommaert, unit head for precious metals and diamonds at National Bank of Fujairah, said in […]
Oil extended its decline below $45 a barrel in New York as a further pullback in US drilling failed to temper expectations that the global oversupply will persist for most of next year. West Texas Intermediate futures slipped 0.5 per cent after declining 2.8 per cent on 11 September when Goldman Sachs said the surprising endurance of the surplus could push prices down to $20 a barrel. The discount […]
LEBANON. On Sept. 11, 2015, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook on the Republic of Lebanon to negative from stable. At the same time, we affirmed our ‘B-/B’ long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings. RATIONALE The outlook revision stems from our view that political uncertainty in Lebanon and regional tensions will continue to weigh on economic growth in the mediumterm. In […]
A NASCAR vehicle is seen parked out front during web hosting company GoDaddy’s initial public offering (IPO) at the New York Stock Exchange April 1, 2015. Reuters/Brendan McDermid/Files GoDaddy Inc (GDDY.N) prevailed in a cybersquatting lawsuit brought by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which accused the Internet domain registrar of illegally profiting off its trademarks, including for the Oscar telecasts. In a 129-page decision […]
The Dubai Health Authority has awarded contracts worth Dh24 million ($6.5 million) to Emirati entrepreneurs in the last three and a half year, falling under the small and medium enterprise (SMEs) classification, according to a top officials. Eman Khalfan Al Jallaf, director of purchasing and contracts department at the DHA, said that in line with the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime […]
