The head of Dubai’s Chamber of Commerce strongly disagrees with the estimate of how many jobs the city’s 2020 Expo win will bring to the emirate – he thinks it will be way more. Analysts have calculated that Dubai’s world fair triumph will create 277,000 jobs, about 14 per cent of the current population of Dubai. But not only does Hamad Buamim reckon the figure is feasible, […]
Emirates NBD, Dubai’s largest lender, missed analysts’ forecasts despite an 8 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit as a surge in the amount set aside by the lender to meet loan losses offset increased net interest income. The lender, 55.6-percent owned by state fund Investment Corp of Dubai, made a net profit of 673 million dirhams ($183.2 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, a statement […]
Barrick Gold Corp’s warning this week that its in-the-ground gold reserves will shrink is widely expected to be echoed in the coming weeks by miners around the globe, spelling more asset writedowns for an already beat-up sector. For the first time in years, miners from Canada to Australia will tell their shareholders that reserves – the future source of production, cash flow and growth – have significantly […]
The top U.S. tax prosecutor said that 106 Swiss banks are seeking U.S. amnesty for helping American clients evade taxes, according to three lawyers who heard her speak at a conference in Phoenix. U.S. prosecutors gave more than 300 Swiss banks until Dec. 31 to seek non-prosecution agreements if they have “reason to believe” they violated tax laws. Banks must disclose how they helped Americans hide assets, […]
|The Arabian Post Special| Reports suggest Dubai has reached an agreement with Abu Dhabi on $20 billion of debt, which it arranged to avert a payment default in the wake of Dubai’s crippling financial crisis. “The rumor is that Abu Dhabi has reached an arrangement with Dubai over the $20 billion payment,” Reuters quoted Mohammed Ali Yasin, managing director of NBAD Securities LLC, as saying on phone. […]
The impact of Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on illegal foreign workers is spreading through its economy, moving beyond the labour-intensive construction industry to sectors as far afield as banking and telecommunications. Nearly 1 million foreign workers, out of a total of roughly 9 million, are estimated to have left Saudi Arabia between last March and November, as authorities enforce work permit rules and corporate quotas for employment of […]
By Simeon Kerr The many daily flights between Dubai and Tehran are always busy. But these days the Iranians heading home after business and shopping trips are being joined by rising numbers of briefcase-toting western and Asian passengers. They are part of a new wave of foreign investors eager to investigate business opportunities in post-sanctions Iran, a potentially lucrative trade that Dubai, the commercial hub of the […]
The Reserve Bank of India should make managing inflation its main policy objective and set monetary policy by committee, a central bank panel has recommended, a shift that would bring its practices in line with many other central banks. The recommendations are widely expected to be accepted. They were issued late on Tuesday by the panel set up by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, which also recommended using […]
Gulf Finance House EC (GFH) climbed to the highest in more than 22 months after the investment company said it signed an agreement with a group of British investors to sell 75 percent of its stake in Leeds United Plc. The shares gained 9.6 percent to 0.86 dirhams in Dubai, the highest close since March 2012. GFH will retain a 10 percent holding in the club after […]
Reliance Industries Ltd., owner of the world’s biggest oil refining complex, reported an unexpected increase in profit as earnings from investments and lower finance costs compensated for a drop in operating income. Net income rose to 55.1 billion rupees ($894 million), or 17.10 rupees a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31 from 55 billion rupees, or 17 rupees a share, a year earlier, according to […]
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will court global business in Davos next week after winning an easing of some economic sanctions, but any trade bonanza depends on the long-term success of nuclear diplomacy. A U.S. stranglehold on Iran’s access to the international financial system, the uncertain future of talks on its nuclear program beyond a six-month initial deal, and vested interests in the Islamic Republic suspicious of Western […]
|By Asa Fitch| Iranian traders in Dubai are guardedly hopeful that business will rebound as sanctions relief begins to go into effect next week. The European Union and U.S. are set to give Iran access to some of its oil revenues abroad and allow for freer trade in energy products providing the Islamic Republic meets the terms of a six-month agreement stipulating monitoring of nuclear facilities and […]
Saudi Arabia helped lift the market to a new five-year high on Wednesday, while other regional shares also gained. Saudi Arabia’s Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) rose 2.9 percent to 88.5 riyals and trading volumes jumped to their highest in three years after the firm beat analysts’ forecasts with an 8.6 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit. The stock jumped to a seven-year intraday high of 90 riyals but […]
|By Parag Deulgaonkar| A wider economic upturn and rapid population growth will lead to a shortage of residential units in Dubai, believes a market participant. “I see a serious shortage… the government is diversifying into tourism-related projects. Schools, universities, theme parks and shopping centres are coming up and so many people will be employed and they all will require accommodation,” Samir Munshi, Managing Director, Orion Holdings, told […]
Abu Dhabi conglomerate Al Jaber Group has appointed a new chief financial officer (CFO) as it pushes to close a long-awaited $4.5 billion restructuring before the end of the first quarter, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. Al Jaber, a family-owned group with operations in aviation, construction and retail, has been in talks with bank creditors to renegotiate its obligations since 2011 and […]
Bahrain-based investment firm Gulf Finance House (GFH) has agreed a partial sale of its stake in English soccer club Leeds United, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday. GFH said the sale was agreed with British investors, whose details the firm did not specify in a bourse statement. The investment firm did not provide details on the stake value or the size of the stake sold. […]
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, told BBC that the government has taken the necessary legal measures and procedures to prevent excessive rise in rents. His Highness also asserted that he is aware of the fact that there are some who might exploit the hosting of the World Expo 2020 in the UAE as an excuse to […]
The long-term future of fields that produce about half Abu Dhabi’s oil remains unclear with only one day of a 75-year partnership with western oil companies left to run. Some of the world’s largest energy companies – ExxonMobil , Royal Dutch Shell, Total and BP – have been pumping crude from the Abu Dhabi desert for decades, taking payment in oil. From midnight on Friday, the 9.5 […]
Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), a federal government company specialised in providing UAE-based credit reports and other financial information, has announced that it will be operational within the next three months. AECB, which is supported by the UAE federal government, has approached all UAE-based banks to sign agreements and provide credit information via a process which will be completed by the end of January 2014. Additionally, AECB […]
Asian shares fell to a near four-month low on Tuesday, though the dollar rebounded after overnight weakness on disappointing U.S. services sector data that raised concerns about stuttering growth in the world’s largest economy. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.3 percent, heading for a fifth straight day of losses. Japan’s Nikkei index shed 0.6 percent, adding to a 2.4 percent slide on Monday, […]
Nakheel PJSC’s plan to pay more than $1 billion of bank debt early may herald further gains for the Dubai real-estate developer’s Islamic bonds. Mashreq Capital DIFC Ltd. and Quantum Investment Bank Ltd. said Nakheel’s payments might help extend a rally that cut its sukuk yield by 215 basis points in the past 12 months to a record 6.58 percent Jan. 3, according to data compiled by […]
The UAE stock market regulator has introduced new margin lending rules and vowed to crack down on unlicensed lending, it said in a statement on its website. Margin lending – borrowing with cash or share holdings as security, has been in high demand as investors sought to maximise gains from a UAE market surge, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi’s bourses jumping 108 percent and 63.1 percent respectively […]
The United Arab Emirates issued rules for the issuance and trading of covered bonds, potentially a major step towards developing its debt market and giving commercial banks a new source of funding. The Securities and Commodities Authority, the UAE’s financial market regulator, set conditions for banks and other companies to obtain licences allowing them to issue covered bonds, state news agency WAM reported on Sunday. The SCA […]
Dubai Group LLC, the investment company that has been seeking payment relief on loans for the past three years, repaid a $300 million syndicated facility led by Citigroup Inc., two people with knowledge of the matter said. Some of the lenders will exit talks on Dubai Group’s $6 billion debt pile, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The Islamic […]
