Saudi

OIL FIRMS GAIN AS DIESEL SALES RISE 87% WITHIN A FORTNIGHT

New Delhi: Oil companies’ gains on diesel sales jumped 87 per cent within a fortnight on a historic slide in global crude prices. Their profits from diesel, recorded for the first time ever, continue as the government delays a decision on deregulating its price. “The over-recovery on high-speed diesel (HSD), applicable for the second fortnight effective October 16, is now Rs 3.56 per litre. The over-recovery […]

Sohar port challenges Dubai, other Gulf rivals

An advertisement by the highway outside Dubai’s massive Jebel Ali Port tells firms they don’t need to ship goods through the Strait of Hormuz, the traditional gateway to the Gulf. Instead they can have goods delivered to a port in Oman, outside the Gulf, and bring them into the region by road. “Why go through the Strait when you can go straight to the Gulf,” the billboard […]

Oil Slump Concerns Overplayed in Gulf Stock Markets?

The price of oil suffered its biggest drop in nearly two years earlier this week after the International Energy Agency reduced its forecast for demand for this year and next. Associated Press A slump in oil prices has eroded investor confidence in Persian Gulf stock markets, some of which are among the leading performers globally this year. The major oil-exporting states in the region such as Saudi […]

Sell-off in Gulf stock markets

Stock markets across the Middle East tumbled on Sunday, led by Dubai and Saudi Arabia where the main indexes sank 6.5 percent, as declines on global bourses and falling oil prices sparked a broad sell-off in the region. Global markets took a big hit on Friday as investors fled to the safety of government bonds after a raft of weak indicators from Europe and China collided with […]

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Egypt Needs More Investments, Not Aid

An employee counts money at an exchange office in downtown Cairo. Reuters First the good news: Egypt’s foreign reserves ticked up to $16.87 billion at the end of September – enough to comfortably cover imports for more than three months as the country’s economy strengthens and foreign investors continue to buy Cairo-listed stocks. But the Arab country–slowly recovering from a tumultuous past few years that left its […]

Banking & Finance

JPMorgan on Middle East hiring spree

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) hired senior bankers from Rothschild and Standard Chartered Plc (STAN) for its investment banking business in the Middle East. The New York-based bank named Majed Al Mesmari, previously at Rothschild, as head of investment banking coverage in the United Arab Emirates, it said in a statement today. Fahad Al-Deweesh has joined from British lender Standard Chartered to lead investment banking coverage in […]

Abraaj buys South African consumer brand

Emerging market-focused private equity firm Abraaj Group has bought a majority stake in Liberty Star Consumer Holdings (Libstar), a South African food and personal care product manufacturer, it said on Wednesday. Dubai-headquartered Abraaj bought shares in unlisted Libstar from its existing shareholders including Metier, Old Mutual Private Equity, Development Partners International and Lereko, it said in a statement. Abraaj said it would continue to support Libstar’s pan-African […]

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Hedge funds dump crude bets

Hedge funds cut bullish bets on Brent crude to the lowest level in three years amid speculation that Saudi Arabia may refrain from paring output to tackle global oversupply. Speculative bets that prices will rise, in futures and options combined, outnumbered short positions by 36,704 lots in the week to Sept. 30, the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange said today in its weekly Commitments of Traders report. […]

Price war looms in oil market

|TAP Special| The oil market scene is turning murky, with indications of a price war developing among major producers to defend their market shares. Crude futures tumbled to a 17-month low on signs that global supply is outstripping demand and by all indications, crude oil is poised to extend the biggest slump in more than two years. To make things worse, Saudi Arabia is said to be […]

OPEC Discord Weighs on Oil Prices

Discord at OPEC is turning into a price war, loosening the cartel’s grip on the oil market and exacerbating a recent steep selloff. Fissures have widened as Mideast turmoil frays political alliances and producers vie for customers amid a flood of oil from the U.S. and slowing growth in Asia. “No one is telling anyone what they are up to,” one Gulf oil official said. Saudi Arabia […]

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Oil prices drop 7.3% in third quarter 2014

SAUDI ARABIA. Jadwa Investment, the Saudi asset manager focused on Sharia’ah compliant mutual and private equity funds, has just issued its Quarterly Global Oil Market Update (Q3 2014). Summary of the report · The combination of accelerating US supply, weaker than expected global demand, stabilization in geopolitics, and an appreciation of the dollar, led to oil prices dropping by 7.3 percent in Q3 2014, to an average of […]

Banking & Finance

Gulf banks suffer loan margin squeeze

Gulf banks are feeling the pinch of rapidly shrinking corporate loan margins, with some predicting a bounce in lending rates as soon as the first half of 2015 as the escalating price war bites into profitability. Lenders are being forced to cut rates and loosen lending terms to secure business as local banks, flush with cash as their balance sheets recover from the global financial crisis, seek […]

Emaar success triggers huge IPO pipeline

|By TAP Staff| Following the huge success of Emaar’s malls IPO, Chairman Mohammed Alabbar indicated the possibility of floating the group’s hotel business, which includes the signature Armani Hotel. Meraas Holding, a Dubai government-controlled developer, has picked banks to manage the IPO of its theme park unit, three people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month. The company’s IPO is planned for the fourth quarter, […]

Dubai financial court system seen taking hold

A landmark ruling by the court system in Dubai’s financial free zone suggests the emirate is starting to influence the way international business disputes are resolved in the Middle East, partly taking over that role from London and New York. Last month a court in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) found Switzerland’s Bank Sarasin had mis-sold $200 million of investment products to Kuwait’s prominent Khorafi family, […]

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Sedco launches in-house managed Islamic fund

Growing interest in sharia investments to boostfund value to $100 million. Sedco launches in-house managed Islamic fund JEDDAH, 8 hours, 30 minutes ago Jeddah-based Islamic investment firm Sedco Capital has launched the first fund managed by its own in-house team, looking to bulk up its asset management capabilities, the firm said on Monday. The Gulf equities fund, domiciled in Luxembourg, has an intial $30 million in assets […]

Emaar malls unit IPO priced at top of range

The Dubai Mall … a key property of Emaar’s malls unit. Emaar malls unit IPO priced at top of range DUBAI, 12 hours, 27 minutes ago Dubai’s Emaar Properties confirmed on Monday that the initial sale of shares in its malls unit priced at the top of the proposed range amid massive demand from investors, making it the largest stock offer in a Gulf Arab economy since […]

Emaar refund to boost cash influx

Dubai’s stock market looks set to see an influx of cash this week when Emaar Malls Group returns to investors the surplus funds from subscriptions to its initial public offer, which could boost the prices of other stocks. EMG, a subsidiary of Dubai’s largest listed developer Emaar Properties, closed subscriptions last Friday and will announce the final offer price on Monday, according to its prospectus. Sources familiar […]

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FTTH Council to host 6th annual conference

FTTH Council to host 6th annual conference DUBAI, 3 hours, 33 minutes ago Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council Mena, has announced the launch of its sixth annual conference in the UAE under the theme of ‘FTTH – The Rise of Smart Nation’.According to a 2013 study conducted by the council, UAE has the highest penetration rate in the world of fibre to the home connectivity for […]

FTTH Council to host 6th annual conference

FTTH Council to host 6th annual conference DUBAI, 3 hours, 27 minutes ago Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council Mena, has announced the launch of its sixth annual conference in the UAE under the theme of ‘FTTH – The Rise of Smart Nation’.According to a 2013 study conducted by the council, UAE has the highest penetration rate in the world of fibre to the home connectivity for […]

Mobily rolls out new iPhone 6 models

Mobily rolls out new iPhone 6 models RIYADH, 3 hours, 30 minutes ago Mobily, a leading teleom operator in Saudi Arabia, has launched the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus mobile phones in selected cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Al-Khobar. There was a solid rush at the Mobily outlets on Saturday among the cutsomers who wanted to lay their hands on ‘the most sophisticated and advanced’ […]

U.S., Defending Kurds in Syria, Expands Airstrikes Against Islamic State Militants

By DAVID E. SANGER and ANNE BARNARD September 27, 2014 WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said on Saturday that it had conducted its first strikes against Islamic State targets in a besieged Kurdish area of Syria along the Turkish border, destroying two armored vehicles in an area that has been the subject of a weeklong onslaught by the Islamic State. The action around Kobani, where at least 150,000 refugees have crossed into Turkey, appeared to signify the opening of […]

Jadwa acquires Jeddah-based waste management firm

Al Sudairy … GEMS is a leading player Saudi group buys waste management firm for $300m RIYADH, 1 days ago Jadwa Waste Management Opportunities Fund, a unit of leading Saudi Arabian private equity house and investment bank Jadwa Investment, has acquired Global Environmental Management Services (GEMS) together with its co-investment partners in a deal valued at around $300 million. The acquisition was funded by funds managed by […]

Gulf Capital buys into top Egypt glass firm

Gulf Capital buys into top Egypt glass firm ABU DHABI, 21 hours, 31 minutes ago Gulf Capital, a leading alternative investment firm, has completed the acquisition of a strategic minority stake in Middle East Glass Manufacturing (MEG), Egypt’s largest container glass and PET manufacturer. MEG is a worldwide approved supplier of glass bottles for Coca-Cola, an approved supplier for Pepsi, Nestle and other major beverage producers locally […]

Hilal Computers wins top marketing awards

Hilal Computers wins top marketing awards MANAMA, 1 days ago Bahrain-based computer systems integrator and solutions provider Hilal Computers has received two prestigious awards from multinational technology firm Dell. Al Hilal Group general manager Geoffrey Milne and regional computer operations director Roshan George received the awards “ for platinum partner of the year and strategic penetration of the Saudi Arabian market” from Dell founder and chief executive […]

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Gaza Recovery Faces Major Challenges, IMF Says

A Palestinian family looks from a window at the rubble of a collapsed tower following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City in a Aug. 26 file photo. Associated Press The outlook for Gaza’s economic recovery is “bleak” after a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas unless there is “a fundamental change of the political status quo”, according to a sobering International Monetary Fund report released Tuesday on the […]

Gaza Recovery Faces Major Challenges, IMF Says

A Palestinian family looks from a window at the rubble of a collapsed tower following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City in a Aug. 26 file photo. Associated Press The outlook for Gaza’s economic recovery is “bleak” after a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas unless there is “a fundamental change of the political status quo”, according to a sobering International Monetary Fund report released Tuesday on the […]

U.S. Airstrikes Hit Targets Near Baghdad Held by ISIS

WASHINGTON — The United States, as promised by President Obama, has stepped up its airstrike campaign in Iraq, hitting targets near Baghdad in the effort to help the Iraqi government win back territory seized by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Pentagon officials said Monday. The offensive is the first expansion of the United States’ campaign against the Islamist militant group that Mr. Obama outlined last […]

Political instability fails to dent infrastructure spending

|By TAP Staff| The growing political instability in the Gulf has not affected spending on infrastructure development, which is expected to swell by 77 percent in 2014 over last year. According to latest compilations by Global Investment House, the value of new infrastructure projects in GCC is expected to surge to $86 billion this year. The value of new projects in Qatar and the UAE would rise […]

Merrill Lynch relocation boosts Dubai’s profile

|By TAP Staff| Dubai added to its financial market profile when Bank of America-Merrill Lynch announced on Monday it was moving its head of frontier markets research to the city. The move reflects the bank’s plan to take advantage of growing investor interest in the Gulf and surrounding region. Global firms have been strengthening their presence in the wake of surging stock markets, index upgrades and most […]

Q&A with KKR’s MENA Head Kaveh Samie

KKR ‘s Samie says the key challenges in the region are valuations, regulations and issues with minority ownership. Nicolas Parasie for The Wall Street Journal KKR & Co. has been in the Middle East and North Africa since 2008. In what could be one of the largest buyout deals ever in the region, the New York-based private equity giant is jointly bidding for Kuwait’s Americana. The Wall […]

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