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 […]
Dubai’s government hopes its first 15-year sukuk issue – an unusually long tenor for an Islamic bond – will pave the way for long-term debt sales by its state companies, the Department of Finance said on Wednesday. Dubai drew $2.3 billion of investor demand for the $750 million issue on Tuesday, pricing it at 5.0 percent, the tight end of initial guidance. Demand was lower than in […]
Dubai Financial Market, the Gulf Arab region’s only listed bourse, said on Wednesday that first-quarter net profit surged eightfold, outstripping analysts’ expectations as trading volumes ballooned. The exchange made 215.1 million dirhams ($58.6 million) in the opening three months of 2014, compared with 27 million dirhams in the corresponding period of last year, it said in a statement. Analysts at HSBC and Global Research had expected a […]
Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG), part of a conglomerate owned by the emirate’s ruler, will repay $319 million of debt more than 18 months early, the latest state-linked company to settle restructured loans ahead of time. Sovereign-linked entities in Dubai were forced to renegotiate billions of dollars of liabilities at the turn of the decade after a local property crash and a lack of refinancing options […]
Arabtec Holding Co, the United Arab Emirates’s biggest listed construction company, is in talks to buy a large European company and may tap the bond market to pay for the deal, Chief Executive Officer Hasan Ismaik said. Arabtec may announce a transaction in the second half, the CEO said in an interview at the Cityscape Abu Dhabi conference today. The contractor is trying to purchase companies with […]
|By TAP Staff| With mixed availability of commercial space across the Abu Dhabi market, potential occupiers remain focussed on prime Grade A stock, which is sustaining rents at the top end of the market, according to the latest research by real estate consultancy Cluttons. Cluttons Abu Dhabi Spring 2014 Commercial Market Outlook report, asserts that with flat rents persisting, occupiers remain in the driving seat and are […]
Bahrain’s Gulf International Bank plans to issue a 2 billion-riyal ($545 million) floating rate notes with a lifespan of five years through a private placement in Saudi Arabia, a prospectus showed on Sunday. The bank mandated its own investment banking arm, GIB Capital, as well as those of National Commercial Bank, Samba Financial Group and Banque Saudi Fransi to act as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners. […]
|By TAP Staff| The Dubai World Trade Centre on Saturday announced that 2.2 million trade delegates and attendees visited exhibitions centre last year – marking the first time the figure has crossed the 2 million milestone. Dubai World Trade Centre hosted 373 meetings, incentives, conferencing, and exhibitions (MICE )and business events throughout 2013, up from 302 in the previous year. Exhibitors from more than 130 nations attended. […]
Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi state-owned investment fund with a mandate to develop the emirate’s economy, said on Thursday its 2013 net profit tripled as soaring stock markets boosted the value of its financial investments. Mubadala, which has stakes in General Electric and private equity firm Carlyle, said it earned 1.45 billion dirhams ($395 million), up from 470 million dirhams in 2012. Financial investments swung from a loss […]
Zain Saudi, Saudi Arabia’s third biggest telecoms operator, will buy fixed line capacity from its competitors to expand its service offering in the kingdom and aims to break even in less than five years, it said on Wednesday. The firm, which began operations in 2008, claimed 15 percent of Saudi’s mobile subscribers at 2013-end and has struggled to break the dominance of better-resourced rivals Saudi Telecom Co […]
Last month, Dubai’s inflation rate has jumped to its highest since 2009 driven by inflated property and food prices. According to the latest data, the cost of living in March increased 3 percent on the year before. This is an official data and it is very much likely the actual numbers to be much higher. According to figures from the Dubai Statistics Center, housing and utility costs […]
Ahli United Bank (AUB), Bahrain’s largest lender, is evaluating a sale or a merger with a rival bank in a potential $5 billion deal, several bankers familiar with the situation said. A deal of this size would be the largest banking transaction in the region for the past 20 years, according to Thomson Reuters data, beating Emirates Bank’s $3.7 billion acquisition of National Bank of Dubai in […]
Three former brokers at ICAP, the world’s largest interdealer broker, appeared in a London court on Tuesday charged with running a four-year scheme to manipulate Libor benchmark interest rates. The men, who spoke only to confirm personal details such as addresses, bring to nine the number of people facing criminal charges in Britain over allegations they rigged the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), which is used to […]
The wrenching selloff in U.S. high-growth technology and biotech shares could leave investors braced for more than a minor pullback when earnings pick up speed this week. First-quarter earnings estimates have fallen sharply as many companies have blamed the brutal winter for weak outlooks. With high-valuation stocks under pressure, earnings could be subjected to even more investor scrutiny than usual. “There’s skepticism among investors about the outlook, […]
Dubai’s benchmark stock index fell the most in a month, tracking a decline in global markets last week, on investor concern this year’s rally was overdone given prospects for earnings growth. Saudi Arabia’s gauge dropped. The DFM General Index tumbled 1.7 percent, the most since March 12, to close at 4,759.15 in the emirate. Dubai Islamic Bank , the United Arab Emirates’ biggest shariah-compliant bank, declined for […]
|By TAP Staff| FDI investment in the UAE reached US$ 12 billion in 2013 and is projected to grow 20 percent in 2014 to reach US$ 14.4 billion, according to Fortress Investments. The estimated growth rate in 2014 would represent a 260 percent increase over 2008, which not only demonstrates full recovery from the global financial crisis, but reflects huge future growth potential for UAE economy that […]
The U.S. government warned banks and other businesses on Friday to be on alert for hackers seeking to steal data exposed by the “Heartbleed” bug, as a German programmer took responsibility for the widespread security crisis. On a website for advising critical infrastructure operators about emerging cyber threats, the Department of Homeland Security asked organizations to report any Heartbleed-related attacks, adding that hackers were attempting to exploit […]
For decades the Cleveland Clinic has provided healthcare to the upper echelons of Middle Eastern society who fly halfway across the world for treatment at the Ohio-based private medical center. Soon, they can skip the trip. Early next year the Cleveland Clinic plans to open an ultra-modern, 364-bed specialty hospital on Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi, one of the most ambitious forays into the oil-rich country […]
Vodafone Group Plc said it expected to close on Friday a deal to buy an 11 percent stake in its Indian business from minority partner Piramal Enterprises Ltd, giving it full ownership. Piramal said on Thursday it had agreed to sell its 11 percent stake to the British group for 89 billion rupees. A Vodafone spokesman separately said the group had already completed a transaction to buy […]
The Nasdaq suffered its biggest drop in two-and-a-half years on Thursday after another sharp selloff in biotech and momentum names, including Gilead Sciences and TripAdvisor, increasing investor anxiety about a broader pullback. The Nasdaq biotechnology index .NBI shed 5.6 percent, its biggest one-day drop since August 2011, adding to recent losses since a large drop in Gilead more than two weeks ago triggered a wider selloff for […]
The company planning the first initial share offering on Dubai’s main stock market for five years says it will spend the proceeds on opening more than 100 fashion stores, restaurants and cafes across the Gulf Arab region over the next five years. Marka, created by prominent businessmen in the United Arab Emirates, will offer for sale 55 percent of its capital or 275 million shares at 1 […]
New York’s highest state court has ruled that a lawsuit by the Algosaibi family conglomerate, claiming that a Saudi billionaire who married into the family committed a $150 million fraud, should be heard in Saudi Arabia. In the lawsuit, Ahmed Hamad al Gosaibi & Brothers Co claimed that Maan al-Sanea, the billionaire head of the Saad Group, used its accounts with Dubai-based Mashreqbank PSC to commit fraudulent […]
Bank of America agreed to pay nearly $800 million in fines and restitution to settle allegations of deceptive marketing and unfair billing involving credit card products, U.S. regulators said on Wednesday. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said they had ordered the bank to pay $727 million in relief to consumers to resolve problems with add-on products providing identity theft […]
