Investor sentiment toward Dubai is about the best it has been since before the Persian Gulf emirate skirted default amid the global credit crisis. The cost of insuring its debt against non-payment with credit-default swaps was quoted at 189 basis points at the end of last month, the least since the 187 reached in May, which was the lowest since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., […]
Dubai’s benchmark led a retreat among Persian Gulf stock indexes, tracking a decline in emerging markets after Russia’s intervention in Crimea raised concerns of armed conflict. The DFM General Index slipped 1.9 percent, the most since Jan. 26, to 4,105.90 at the close in Dubai. The measure, which more than doubled last year, dropped on 44 percent of three-month average daily volume. Abu Dhabi’s gauge closed 1.8 […]
United Arab Emirates telecommunications firm du has borrowed $1.17 billion in three separate deals to refinance existing debt and fund equipment purchases, the company said on Tuesday. The deals include a $720 million package reported by Reuters last month and agreements with Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Singapore to refinance and top up existing loans. “The move lowers the company’s funding costs, saving approximately $9 million over […]
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) and partners will pay $1.6 billion in cash and assumed debt to buy two hydroelectric power plants in India from Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd. (JPVL) in a deal expected to close this year. The state-controlled utility known as Taqa will manage and operate the facilities, it said in an e-mailed statement today. The assets have an enterprise value of $1.6 billion, […]
Dubai is considering listing some of its largest and most valuable state-controlled companies such as the Emirates airline in a move that could raise billions of pounds in revenue. Mohammed al-Shaibani, Dubai’s finance chief, revealed that some of the state-owned companies could also be partially floated on the London Stock Exchange and signalled that the emirate views the UK as a strategic location for future investment. “We […]
A last official link between the Gulf’s colonial era and its commercially dynamic present, Bill Duff devoted his life to Dubai and played a bigger part than any other westerner in the early transformation of the emirate from obscure outpost into global hub. Duff, who has died aged 91, arrived as an economic adviser in 1959 in what were called the Trucial states. His mission came at […]
Increase in number of seats in flights between India and Dubai will allow for multiple choice of travel and cheap connections for Indian passengers, sectoral experts said. “Enhancement of seat quotas with Dubai is a good thing for both countries. It will help enhance supply of seats, increase competition and help bring down fares,” said Amber Dubey, partner and India head of aerospace and defense at global […]
First Gulf Bank (FGB) AGM approved a cash dividend of 100% of the capital and 30% bonus shares for the financial year ending 31 December 2013. Owners of FGB shares registered on Sunday 09/03/2014 (buyers on 05/03/2014) are eligible to cash dividends and bonus shares. The AGM also approved the financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2013. Abdulhamid Saeed, Managing Director, said the distribution of […]
Concerns from Indian carriers on the quantum of increase in bilateral seat entitlements requested by Dubai may result in the emirate getting only half of its initial request of enhancing weekly entitlements by 20,000 seats. the Economic Times reported. A top official of the civil aviation ministry told ET that officials of various ministries met as part of an Inter Ministerial Group on Monday where a “couple” […]
Only a thin blue hoarding separates the busy shopping district of Downtown Dubai from the new waterside office and residential area of Business Bay – yet the two locations feel worlds apart. Turn right along a narrow road from The Dubai Mall and you are suddenly faced with piles of sand and heaps of junk. Shiny green glass buildings stand next to half-finished structures of grey skeletal […]
Heavy morning fog and zero visibility driver alerts notwithstanding, hundreds of investors descended at Emaar Properties’ Downtown sales office early on Saturday to buy townhouses in Mira Oasis in the Reem master development. But as the numbers swelled, Dubai’s largest developer cancelled the first-come first-served approach and adopted an “online registration”system in order to manage the crowd. “There was a huge rush at the Emaar sales office… […]
Rating agency Fitch sees the spillover from the strengthening Dubai economy, among other factors, to keep Abu Dhabi growth at 4-5 percent over the next two years. The other factors include high government spending and fruition of several major projects. Fitch Ratings has affirmed Abu Dhabi’s Long-term foreign and local currency IDRs at ‘AA’ with Stable Outlooks. The issue ratings on Abu Dhabi’s senior unsecured foreign and […]
BlackRock Frontiers Investment Trust Plc (BRFI), a $297 million fund run by the world’s biggest asset manager, said it “substantially” reduced United Arab Emirates holdings last month on concern stocks rallied too much. “While the U.A.E. economy in general is performing well and Dubai is booming, we are increasingly concerned about the level of speculation in the market,” investment managers Sam Vecht and Emily Fletcher in London […]
TASWEEK Real Estate Development and Marketing PJSC – an advisor and solutions provider serving the real estate markets, has adopted a new organizational structure to manage the positive growth in the UAE real estate sector, driven by the increasing confidence and heightened optimism among the investors and buyers in the country. The restructuring in its organizational structure comes amidst the TASWEEK study which revealed that the real […]
For years, Abu Dhabi’s real estate market has paled next to its more dynamic, glamorous rival in neighbouring Dubai. But that may be changing as Abu Dhabi engineers a market recovery that could attract billions of dollars of fresh foreign investment. Real estate prices in Dubai jumped over 20 percent last year, analysts estimate, as the emirate rebounded from a crash in 2008-2010 which slashed prices by […]
DUBAI is poised to roll over a vital $10 billion debt facility with the central bank of the United Arab Emirates at a lower rate of interest, UK’s Telegraph newspaper revealed. Rolling over the debt, which is due at the end of this week, will soothe lingering concerns over the emirate’s ability to service its immediate debts as it prepares to embark on another burst of infrastructure […]
A subsidiary of Dubai-based builder Arabtec Holding has won a 1 billion dirham ($272 million) contract in Kazakhstan, Arabtec said on Wednesday. The subsidiary, EFECO, will carry out mechanical, electrical and plumbing work at the Abu Dhabi Plaza development in the Kazakh capital Astana. The development is under construction by a joint venture of Arabtec and Consolidated Contractors Co, under a 4 billion dirham contract with Abu […]
Abu Dhabi’s new financial free zone has hired a former executive from neighbouring Dubai’s financial centre to spearhead its growth. Jan Bladen will be executive adviser and programme leader at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a full-service financial zone which the wealthy emirate is building on an island near its downtown area, the ADGM said in a statement on Tuesday. From 2005 until late last year, Bladen […]
Dubai’s Mashreq has increased the limit on foreign ownership of its shares to 49 percent, its chief executive said on Monday, in line with a wider move by companies in the United Arab Emirates to open up to international investors. Companies and banks in the UAE and Qatar are reviewing their foreign ownership caps ahead of a planned upgrade by international index compiler MSCI to emerging market […]
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s most profitable lender, said it will consider acquisitions in the Middle East as part of plans to boost earnings from the region by 50 percent this year. “We’re looking to see if there are acquisition opportunities,” Zhou Xiaodong, chief executive officer for the Middle East, said in an interview from the lender’s Dubai offices. “It’s a good strategy. […]
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has issued a show-cause notice to Etihad Airways, asking whether the Abu Dhabi-based carrier violated takeover rules in acquiring a 24 percent stake in Jet Airways, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. SEBI issued the notice to Etihad on Wednesday and asked for a response on why it should not make a tender offer to Jet […]
UAE telecom firm du has agreed terms on a $720 million 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 Financial Group, the sources who both have knowledge of the matter said. They […]
A well-timed launch saw Dubai Investments Park achieve favourable terms on its debut $300 million, 4.296 percent five-year Reg S sukuk issue, a deal that may serve to accelerate the plans of other regional potential issuers. The real estate firm, rated BB by Standard & Poor’s, kicked off the deal in a strong week for emerging markets and to a market starved of Middle East paper: it […]
A U.S. border checkpoint located a day’s flight from New York in the Arabian desert promises to become an oasis for weary travelers heading for the States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection opened an Abu Dhabi base on Jan. 24, the first in the Middle East and the second outside the Americas after Ireland. Another post is planned in Dubai within a year as part of a […]
