Emaar Properties is talking to regulators about the possibility of listing its shopping malls unit on Dubai Financial Market (DFM), the emirate’s main bourse, instead of Nasdaq Dubai, sources aware of the matter said on Monday. Last month, Dubai’s biggest property firm hired Morgan Stanley to manage an 8-9 billion dirham ($2.2-2.5 billion) listing of the unit, which would be one of the biggest equity deals in […]
Dubai’s main airport attracted 2 million more passengers than London Heathrow in the first quarter, with only work on the Gulf hub’s runways likely to stop it becoming the busiest international crossroads this year. Dubai International, home base to Emirates, already the top airline by cross-border traffic, handled 18.4 million travelers in the period, beating Heathrow in each of the three months as the runway-restricted London hub […]
London-based RiverCrossing Capital Partners, a new Islamic investment firm, has launched its first product, a U.S. real estate fund, as part of a plan to offer non-traditional asset classes to institutional investors in the Gulf. The firm will develop asset-based funds with a non-cyclical nature, a departure from other sharia-compliant real estate funds which have focused on more traditional commercial and residential properties that perform in line […]
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 […]
A sense of euphoria can be felt as you walk onto the Dubai Financial Market’s (DFM) trading floor. Excited investors sit huddled at tables, eyes fixed on trading screens. Occasionally the floor erupts in applause as certain stocks shoot up to target levels. A local investor in his fifties who gives his name as Abu Hany, dressed in the traditional white robes of the Gulf, describes himself […]
Reuters | Jim Finkle – BOSTON, April 27 (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is rushing to fix a bug in its widely used Internet Explorer web browser after a computer security firm disclosed the flaw over the weekend, saying hackers have already exploited it in attacks on some U.S. companies. PCs running Windows XP will not receive any updates fixing that bug when they are released, however, because Microsoft […]
DP World Ltd., the world’s third-biggest port operator, asked lenders to cut the price on a five-year credit facility by a third to benefit from falling interest rates, two bankers familiar with the request said. The port operator, owned by Dubai World, one of the emirate’s three main state-controlled holding companies, is seeking a reduction to 150 basis points, or 1.5 percentage points, over the London interbank […]
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 […]
|By TAP Staff| A change of rule by the UAE stock market regulator will now allow smaller firms to tap Islamic capital markets through smaller-sized sukuk issues. The new rules for Islamic and corporate bonds also seek to encourage trading in them, and make it easier for foreign institutions to operate. The changes are part of plans to introduce at least two new rules covering the stock […]
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 […]
Investors are switching their attention back to developing countries’ debt after flirting with U.S. and European junk bonds during a year of turbulence in emerging markets. A long sell-off in anticipation of U.S. stimulus withdrawal meant emerging sovereign debt posted negative returns last year but the sector has enjoyed one of its best starts to a year in a decade in 2014, investors say, with returns of […]
Gold premiums in India, the world’s second biggest consumer after China, jumped to their highest level in more than two-and-a-half months due to short supplies amid firm demand ahead of the second-biggest gold buying festival. Premiums for gold bars rose more than 23 percent to $110 an ounce on London prices, a level last seen in early February, compared with $89 an ounce earlier in the week. […]
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 […]
The first initial public offer of shares on Dubai’s main stock market for five years was 36 times subscribed, a sign of massive interest in equities among retail investors as the emirate’s economy booms. Investors subscribed 10 billion dirhams ($2.7 billion) to the fixed offer of 275 million shares in Marka, which were priced at 1 dirham each, Jamal Al Hai, chairman of the company’s founders committee, […]
While World Expo 2020 will be associated with some of the massive multibillion dollar real estate and hospitality projects, Smart City is determined to design and implement cutting edge technology solutions to plan and manage the day to day activities of the Emirate. Hence, it is significant that massive growth and development initiative in Dubai should be backed with a philosophy of sustainability, which can ensure wellbeing […]
The group is on the verge of selecting a producer, plans to tour the US after its completion |ANDY GREENE| It’s been nearly six years since Metallica last released a studio album, but as they gear up for a run of summer festivals in Europe, the band is also putting together material for a new LP. “We’re going through the grind,” says Lars Ulrich. “We’re in there doing riffs and […]
The first known printed reference to the Arabian Gulf region, with the earliest map to call the Gulf “Sinus Arabicus” instead of “Sinus Persicus”, will be on display at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair held from April 30 to May 5, at stand E35, Hall 12. Renowned antiquarian booksellers Mr Hugo Wetscherek of Inlibris, based in Austria, and Mr Laurens Hesselink of Antiquariaat Forum, the Netherlands, are […]
Omar Sharif is undoubtedly the biggest film star from the Arab world, an icon since he first emerged as a wobbling, pixelated speck on a desert horizon in Lawrence of Arabia. Unfortunately, to many he’s the only film star from the Arab world, something that Irish director Jim Sheridan has taken it upon himself to fix. “I used to be very friendly with Marlon Brando,” explains Sheridan […]
Forbes Media LLC’s effort to find a buyer is running into trouble, with one potential bidder officially out of the running and two others no longer in active talks, people with knowledge of the matter said. Germany’s Axel Springer SE, which publishes the Russian edition of the magazine, isn’t involved in any process to acquire Forbes, Edda Fels, a spokeswoman, said yesterday. The company had been interested […]
Emirates NBD expects the buoyant local economy to keep boosting its profits and allow the bank to build up its bad loan coverage ratio without the kind of severe provisioning which stymied recent earnings, its CEO said on Thursday. Dubai’s largest lender beat analysts’ forecasts with a 25 percent jump in first-quarter net profit to 1.04 billion dirhams ($283.7 million) as higher interest and fee income outstripped […]
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 […]
| By K Raveendran| A number of banks have failed to complete the process of providing credit data of their customers for the past two years. The Etihad Credit Bureau, the federal government entity responsible for administering the credit data base, has expressed concern over the delay and pointed out that effectiveness of the bureau’s reports would depend on the submission of quality data by the banks […]
|By TAP Staff| Trade in petrochemicals between Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states is set for robust growth in the coming years led by the development of the region’s rail and transport network, predicts the Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA), the region’s longest-standing trade association. “An integrated railway network is an important catalyst in driving increased economic integration between GCC countries as it fosters the region’s development […]
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 […]
