Minor International( MINT) announced that it has reached agreement to acquire 30,000,000 shares in NH Hotel Group in a transaction valued at EUR 192 million, which together with its existing shareholding will increase MINT’s stake in NH Hotel Group to 8.6% on a fully diluted basis. NH Hotel Group is the sixth largest hotel chain in Europe and this investment offers important strategic benefits to MINT which, […]
By Arabian Post Staff Macro economic and market conditions remained stable in the UAE in 2017 and the global and domestic economic growth and outlook improved during the year. In financial markets, the money market spreads, dirham-dollar forward points and credit market spreads narrowed reflecting ample liquidity and confidence in the UAE financial system. The UAE’s economic growth and outlook showed an improvement in 2017, but the […]
By James M. Dorsey Ousted Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif kicked up a storm when he earlier this month seemingly admitted that Pakistan had supported militants who attacked multiple targets in Mumbai in 2008, killing 166 people. Mr. Sharif’s admission, which he has since tried to walk back, put a finger on Pakistan’s controversial policy of selective support of militant groups at a sensitive time. Pakistan is gearing up for elections that […]
|By Saifur Rahman, Associate Editor| The historic first cargo of two million barrels of crude oil from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), destined for the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) has been loaded and is en-route to India, in the presence of Dharmendra Pradhan, Indian Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO at a ceremony in Abu […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Emirates Group reported a 67 percent jump in net profits to $1.1 (Dh4.1 billion) billion in 2017-18 financial year ending March 31, 2018 compared to the previous year, with revenues reaching $27.9 billion (Dh102.4 billion), crossing the Dh100 billion mark for the first time in the history of the 32 year old airline group that includes Emirates Airline and its ground handling and ticketing arm, […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| After two decades, Sony Corporation has registered historically high consolidated operating income of US$6.6 billion (¥734.9 billion) in fiscal year 2017, a 2.5-fold increase compared to the previous year. The company’s consolidated sales and operating revenue was US$77.04 billion (¥8.54 trillion), registering a 12 per cent rise compared to FY16. Sony also reported net income of US$4.4 billion (¥490.8 billion), which was 6.7 times […]
|By Matein Khalid| I had written an article titled “six reasons to be bullish Saudi equities in 2018, published in the KT on January 28. Yet I was surprised to see Saudi Arabian equities become the world’s second best performing stock market in 2018 after Egypt. The Saudi equity index fund (KSA) I recommended in my column is up 18% at a time when the MSCI emerging markets […]
By Matein Khalid A dismal legacy of civil war, sanctions, insurgency, foreign invasion and terrorism has had a catastrophic impact on the Iraqi economy. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told the assembled global elite at Davos 2018 that Iraq needed $100 billion in postwar construction. Yet money alone will not solve Iraq’s problems of systemic corruption, a society divided by sectarian cleavages, poverty, the displacement of 2 million […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Emaar Properties recorded revenue for the first three months of 2018 of Dh5.58 billion (US$1.52 billion), 37 per cent higher than the first quarter of 2017 revenue of Dh4.07 billion (US$1.109 billion). This was led by significant progress achieved on projects under construction and the growth in malls and hospitality businesses. Emaar’s net profit grew by 20 per cent to Dh1.66 billion (US$453 […]
|By Arabian Post| UAE’s leading satellite operator Yahsat has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the mobile satellite services operator Thuraya, also based in the UAE, subject to final pre-closing conditions being met. The acquisition of the UAE’s first home grown satellite operator will significantly expand Yahsat’s current satellite solutions portfolio for both commercial and government verticals, as well as its global footprint. […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) reported a 9 per cent increase in its net profit for the first quarter of 2018 as net interest income and income from Islamic financing rose. The bank reported Dh1.2 billion in profit for the first three months, up from the Dh1.1 billion in net profit in the same period of 2017. The earnings are marginally higher than analyst […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| In another setback to the region’s most high-profile private equity firm, state-owned Mubadala is reported to have halted talks to buy Abraaj’s investment business. Abraaj is facing an investigation by investors into how it used some of their money. Abraaj has been trying to sell some or all of the unit following a row with four investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation […]
By James M. Dorsey Iranian leaders are struggling, three months after anti-government protests swept the Islamic republic, to ensure that environmental issues that helped sparked a popular uprising in Syria in 2011 leading to a brutal civil war don’t threaten the clergy’s grip on power. Like Syria, Iran has been confronting a drought that has affected much of the country for more than a decade with precipitation dropping to its lowest […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|Global trade enabler DP World announced strong financial results for the twelve months ending 31 December 2017. On a reported basis, revenue grew 13.2 percent and adjusted EBITDA increased 9.1 percent with adjusted EBITDA margin of 52.4 percent, delivering profit attributable to owners of the company of $1,209 million, up 7.3 percent, and EPS of 145.6 US cents. On a like-for-like basis, revenue grew […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Abraaj Group, the Middile East’s biggest private equity firm, is facing the biggest crisis in its history, with a number of major management changes and top-level resignations. According to reports, chief financial officer Ashish Dave has left the company and two other other senior executives are also preparing to leave. The investment firm, which manages $13.6 billion in assets, is also considering a […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Saal, an innovative technology company based in Abu Dhabi, has launched saal.ai – a revolutionary artificial intelligence (AI) framework, an enabler, ready to transcend and redefine current practices across industries and fuel economic and social growth. Capable of cognitive tasks such as reasoning, inference and retrieval, using data collected from multi-modal sensor inputs, saal.ai uses advanced computing and machine learning techniques to perform actions in the AI […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Emaar Properties recorded a net operating profit of AED 5.704 billion (US$ 1.553 billion) during full-year (January to December) 2017, a growth of 16 per cent over the FY 2016 net operating profit of AED 4.917 billion (US$ 1.339 billion). Total revenue for FY 2017 increased by 21 per cent to AED 18.812 billion (US$ 5.122 billion), over FY 2016 revenue of AED […]
|By Anand Vardhan|Shaikha Hind Al Qassimi, member of the royal family of Sharjah, is a multifaceted personality with an enviable record as a painter, publisher and fashion designer. She has set up a number of businesses that reflect her interests, among them a fashion house that showcases exquisitely designed abayas, which combine luxurious functionality and style. Her signature brand, ‘House Of Hend’ retails in several countries in […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| DP World Ltd., the Dubai-based port operator that manages terminals from Hong Kong to Peru, and India’s National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) plan to jointly invest up to US$3 billion in the South Asian nation, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, disclosed at the sixth World Government Summit (WGS 2018) in Dubai. During a panel discussion titled […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The Dubai residential market witnessed solid growth in off-plan sales transactions during the last quarter of 2017. According to a recent report by global real estate consultancy firm CBRE, off-plan sales accounted for more than 65 per cent of total sales transactions for the year ending 2017, an increase of approximately 56 per cent in the number of transactions and 44 per cent in […]
Heart Disease – An infographic by GeriatricNursing.org Every year over 1.2 million people suffer from a heart attack due to coronary heart disease. The probability that a person may die from heart attack is 40 out of 100. According to the latest estimations, more than 335,000 of these heart attack patients are estimated to die even before reaching the hospital or the emergency ward. In the […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The increased availability of affordable properties in Dubai is encouraging residents of Sharjah and other northern emirates to move closer to their work places in Dubai, Asteco said in its latest report. This is despite despite waived deposit requirements, rent-free periods, increased number of payments (up to 12 cheques) and rent adjustments at their current residences. The Northern Emirates will remain an affordable […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Flight bookings for travel to the Middle East and Africa grew by 10.5 percent in 2017 and growth is set to continue in the first quarter of 2018, as bookings are currently 11.2 percent ahead of where they were at this time last year according to ForwardKeys, the company that helps forecast future travel by analysing around 17 million flight booking transactions a […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|A buoyant GCC Bond and Sukuk market achieved an all-time high issuance of USD 70 billion in 2017, with sustained investor appetite expected in 2018, according to a co-authored white paper from Emirates NBD Asset Management (Dubai) and Fisch Asset Management (Zurich). The paper, titled “The GCC Fixed Income Market: Then and Now” identifies key themes in 2017 and provides an outlook for the […]
