Bisco Misr… bidding battle Kellogg outbids Abraaj third time for Bisco CAIRO, 2 days ago Breakfast cereal maker Kellogg Co has again raised its bid for Egyptian snack maker Bisco Misr, outbidding private equity group Abraaj for the third time and snatching the lead in a $140 million takeover battle. Kellogg said on Thursday it would improve its offer to EGP86.36 ($12.04) per share, hoping to secure […]
DUBAI, 2 days ago Developing countries in Asia—particularly China and India—are rapidly becoming the biggest trading partners with Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries ahead of other regions, according to a new report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in conjunction with Falcon and Associates. The study, entitled ‘GCC Trade and Investment Flows,’ explored the GCC’s economic ties with each world region and identifies major growth drivers. […]
Gulf governments seek to improve the livesof citizens and create jobs. Oil slump won’t derail $500bn Gulf infrastructure plan DUBAI, 2 days ago Slumping oil prices will not halt a massive ramp-up in Gulf infrastructure spending, as rich nations deploy huge reserves to maintain a breakneck development pace and the rest turn to buoyant funding markets. However, states are being urged to consider the most effective funding […]
Cancer and heart disease death rates have fallen. Global population living 6 years longer than in 1990 LONDON, 2 days ago Global life expectancy has risen by more than six years since 1990 thanks to falling death rates from cancer and heart disease in rich countries and better survival in poor countries from diarrhoea, tuberculosis and malaria. In an analysis from the 2013 Global Burden of Disease […]
Mandy Rice Davies photographed in the 1960’s Photo: Rex Features I was 13 when it all happened. Parents in those days wished their children wouldn’t read scandals, with the predictable result that, for the first time in our lives, we read the papers avidly. Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies, the girls involved in the Profumo scandal of 1963, were of elder-sister age: the beehive hair, short shift-dresses and […]
Labour leader Ed Miliband with MP for Manchester Central Lucy Powell Photo: Steve Back / Barcroft Media It was only a matter of time before Lucy Powell got it in the neck for being successful, young – and above all female. Just days after Ed Miliband promoted her vice-chair of Labour’s election campaign, the briefings against her began. Yesterday they reached a new frenzy, after she was blamed […]
Sony Pictures Entertainment was warned by hackers to “obey” or else, now the entertainment giant is warning news organizations how to treat its stolen data in the wake of the attack. Sony Pictures attorney David Boies wrote a three-page letter to several news media outlets, noting that the Sony documents were stolen information, and that anyone who received a copy should not review them — but rather […]
OPEC will stand by its decision not to cut crude output even if oil prices fall as low as $40 a barrel and will wait at least three months before considering an emergency meeting, the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister said. OPEC won’t immediately change its Nov. 27 decision to keep the group’s collective output target unchanged at 30 million barrels a day, Suhail Al-Mazrouei said. Venezuela […]
A fresh drop in the price of oil looks likely to put more pressure on Sunday on stock markets in the Gulf, where investors appear to be waiting for the commodity to stabilise before opening new positions. Brent crude dropped nearly 3 percent and settled at below $62 a barrel on Friday after the International Energy Agency cut its outlook for demand growth in 2015. A plunge […]
Benchmark U.S. oil prices are poised to test $55 a barrel after a six-month rout pushed crude to the lowest in five years. West Texas Intermediate crude ended below $58 today for the first time since May 2009 after the International Energy Agency cut its global demand forecast for the fourth time in five months. Prices are down 46 percent from this year’s highest close of $107.26 […]
Sliding oil prices, leverage and sheer panic have exposed the fragility of Gulf equity markets just as they are becoming mainstream destinations for international investors. In May, MSCI upgraded Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to emerging-market status, drawing billions of dollars of new money to them. Saudi Arabia will open its bourse to direct foreign investment next year, which could draw tens of billions of dollars […]
Dubai family-owned conglomerate Al Habtoor Group has cast doubt over plans for an imminent initial share sale but expects revenues to more than double over the next five years helped by strong local economic growth, its chairman said on Tuesday. Speculation around a flotation of the group, which has interests in hospitality, retail and construction, has revived in recent months as the market for offerings in Dubai […]
Most Gulf firms can prosper with $70 oil DUBAI, 6 days ago Plunging stock markets in the Gulf show investors are panicking about the prospect of $70 oil next year. But heavy state spending means most firms in the region, with the big exception of petrochemical producers, are likely to do just fine. The main Saudi stock index sank 4.8 per cent on Sunday, bringing its losses […]
Visitors walk past by the Ilissos statue, a part of the collection of ‘The Parthenon Marbles’, also known as the ‘Elgin Marbles’ in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg Photo: ANATOLY MALTSEV/EPA By Boris Johnson 6:10AM GMT 08 Dec 2014 Follow The other day, I saw at close hand the bravery and professionalism of a Malaysia Airlines cabin crew as they grappled with a passenger who was being, […]
Oman’s stock market sank on Sunday after Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook for the country’s sovereign rating and local cement firms said natural gas prices would double – examples of the pain which the weaker Gulf oil exporters may face because of the slide in oil prices. Brent crude slipped 0.8 percent to $69.07 a barrel on Friday after Saudi Arabia slashed its oil prices for […]
Shuaa Capital’s executive chairman and board director, Sheikh Maktoum Hasher al-Maktoum, will step down from both roles in February, the Dubai-based investment bank said on Sunday. Maktoum will depart after the disclosure of its full-year results for 2014, Shuaa said in a statement. A member of Dubai’s ruling family, Maktoum served in his present capacity since May 2011. During his tenure, the firm underwent a significant turn-around […]
The latest entrant into Islamic finance is leading the industry in the new direction of socially responsible investment – which could even include the fight against Ebola. Last week an immunisation programme secured a $500 million issuance of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, in the largest debut issue ever by a global non-profit organisation, under a broader trend to use bond markets to fund development and humanitarian projects. […]
If some information leaked online this week is any indication, Samsung’s next Galaxy phone will feature a yet-bigger and improved display. A screenshot of the new phone was published on the Chinese Web site CNMO, which said it got the information from the database of benchmarking site AnTuTu. The specs supposedly show details of the yet-to-be-released Samsung Galaxy S6. The most prominent features of the new Galaxy, […]
Oil market analysts are debating if oil will fall to $50. In North Dakota, prices are already there. Crude sold at the wellhead in the Bakken shale region in North Dakota fell to $49.69 a barrel on Nov. 28, according to the marketing arm of Plains All America (PAA) Pipeline LP. That’s down 47 percent from this year’s peak in June, and 29 percent less than the […]
Saudi Arabia will probably deepen discounts for crude supplies to Asia after leading OPEC to maintain the group’s output target amid a global battle for market share, according to a Bloomberg survey of traders. The world’s biggest oil exporter will announce January official selling prices to buyers in Asia this week, after lifting its Arab Light grade from the lowest level in almost six years a month […]
Shares in Dubai declined to the lowest level in five months as the emirate’s largest stock traded without the right to its next dividend and Gulf markets retreated amid plunging oil prices. The DFM General Index (DFMGI) fell 2.2 percent to 4,186.11 at the close. The gauge lost 19 percent since the most recent peak on Sept. 3, leaving it less than 50 points away from a […]
Deloitte LLP may be blocked from auditing companies in Saudi Arabia after the country’s market regulator told firms registered in the kingdom to stop using its local services, according to a circular obtained by Bloomberg. The Capital Market Authority said in the circular dated Nov. 27 that publicly traded companies it regulates should avoid working with Deloitte’s Saudi Arabian practice as of June 1. The ban could […]
Plunging stock markets in the Gulf show investors are panicking about the prospect of $70 oil next year. But heavy state spending means most firms in the region, with the big exception of petrochemical producers, are likely to do just fine. The main Saudi stock index sank 4.8 percent on Sunday, bringing its losses from its September peak to 23 percent. Dubai’s index is down 21 percent […]
Voters today rejected a referendum requiring the Swiss National Bank hold at least 20 percent of its 520-billion-franc ($540 billion) balance sheet in gold. Had it been approved, it would have led to purchases of at least 1,500 metric tons over five years. With lower oil prices reducing costs for consumers and the U.S. considering raising interest rates, demand is fading for hedges against inflation such as […]
