By Matein Khalid I had published a column in the UK/MENA press arguing that the Uber IPO was “absurdly valued” last week. I was vindicated with a vengeance when Uber priced its IPO at 45, well below the level Saudi Arabia’s uber-sovereign wealth fund PIF invested $3.5 billion in the hose of Travis (now Dara) three years ago. Uber opened on the NYSE with a whimper, not […]
/By Matein Khalid/ Uber Technologies goes public in the most controversial and global tech IPO since Facebook seven years ago. Uber bulls claim that the ride sharing colossus is another embryonic Amazon, a firm that will dominate the digital constellation of the next two decades. I disagree. Uber loses $4 billion per annum and has already been forced to surrender Russia/CIS to Yandex, China to Didi and […]
/Arabian Post Staff/ Emirates Group, which operates Emirates Airline – the world’s largest international carrier – reported a 44 percent decline in profits to US$631 million (Dh2.3 billion) in 2018-19 financial year ending March 31, 2019, despite achieving a 7 percent growth in revenue to reach US$29.8 billion (Dh109.3 billion). In line with the overall profit, the Group declared a dividend of Dh500 million (US$136 million) to its shareholder, […]
By Gaurav Sharma The oil and gas industry is on the cusp of profound operational changes underpinned by emerging technologies. The transformative impact of this new wave – labelled the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 – is being felt to such an extent that the International Energy Agency (IEA) has started factoring in probable additional global oil reserves courtesy optimised conventional and unconventional production. Dr Fatih […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|The Islamic gold market is set to expand, develop and flourish – benefiting investors, product providers and the entire Islamic finance world, the World Gold Council has said in a report citing research commissioned by the council. The research was conducted as part of the council’s efforts to help develop a market for Shari’ah-compliant gold-backed products following the launch of the AAOIFI Shari’ah Standard […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| A new whitepaper published by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry on start-ups has called for closer cooperation between universities, government agencies and investment funds to expand the scope of investments that can support the growth of startups in the UAE. The whitepaper has been published in collaboration with Roland Berger. The findings were released during Dubai Startup Hub’s Entrepreneurship Advocacy event series. […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|In a pivotal geopolitical shift, the United States will soon export more oil and liquids than Saudi Arabia. This remarkable turnaround is made possible by the continued rise in oil production from US shale plays and the increased oil export capacity from the Gulf Coast. The US has for decades relied on large-scale imports to satisfy its thirst for oil, but this is about […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The current global energy transition is driving an “inevitable geopolitical shift” and creating “unique opportunities not seen in generations,” according to a Winton Group-backed advanced energy investment firm. This analysis by Dr Erich Becker, Founder and Managing Partner of London-based energy investment firm, Exergy Capital, comes as momentum builds across the world on the seismic shift towards cleaner energy sources, and with oil […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|ENOC Group has announced a strategic alliance with Indian Oil Company (IOC), the largest commercial oil and gas company in India worth US$63 billion, in a joint effort to expand its global footprint while building on IOC’s R&D infrastructure to mitigate future manufacturing challenges. The ENOC-IOC partnership includes R&D efforts, to jointly develop cylinder oil compliant to the Sulphur cap of 0.5 percent from […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai Land Department (DLD) announced the launch of the Smart Audit initiative that allows the completion of real estate transactions on the same day. This comes as part of its tireless efforts to develop and formulate modern 10X initiatives that guarantee the smooth provision of services to its customers, ensuring their comfort. During the first week of the evening audit, more than 112 […]
|By Matein Khalid|The GCC currency pegs to the US dollar have been prominent in international finance in place since the early 1980’s, in times of war and revolution, in times of economic boom and bust, in times of crude oil price surges and crashes. Yet the oil crash of 2014-16 was an inflection point in the economic history of the Arabian Gulf. Crude oil prices were $115 […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|The IMF has stressed that the external downside risks to the UAE’s outlook have risen and encouraged the authorities to continue their efforts to bolster economic growth and safeguard macro-financial stability. In this context, the Fund stressed the importance of increasing supervisory vigilance and strengthening management of contingent liabilities from borrowing by government-related enterprises, government guarantees, and public-private partnerships. The IMF advice came in […]
|By Matein Khalid| Dropbox, founded by MIT students, venture financed by Sequoia Capital, is one of the world’s most valuable software startups. Even the Irish legend Bono of UB40 is an early stage investor. Its March 2018 IPO was a blowout. Dropbox broke syndicate at 21 and closed at up 50% on its first day. The shares peaked at 43 in June, but as Sophocles observed two […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the IFC Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Fund, a fund managed by IFC Asset Management Company, LLC (AMC), are investing $19 million in equity in Yellow Door Energy. The investment will support the deployment of lease-to-own rooftop and ground-mounted solar-power and energy-efficiency solutions to commercial and industrial customers in Jordan, UAE, and beyond. The investment is part of […]
|By Matein Khalid| I had recommended buying the British pound at 1.2700 against the US dollar in successive columns in the past two weeks. Sterling is at 1.3200 as I write, the trade is already hugely profitable. Cable has now closed above its crucial 200 day moving average in a clear trend reversal. As markets dismiss the risk of a no deal Brexit, I believe the pound […]
|By Matein Khalid| The epic political dramas of last week (Aunty Theresa’s Brexit plan was rejected by the House of Commons but she managed to survive a no-confidence vote by a narrow margin) strengthened the British pound, exactly as I had expected. Yet sterling has not managed to rise above 1.30 to the US dollar in the past two months and now trades at its lowest levels […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|Oversupply concerns in the Dubai real estate market are increasing ahead of demand resulting in further downward pressure on both prices and rentals, JLL said in its review of 2018. The residential market in Dubai remains tenant friendly, allowing existing tenants to renegotiate their rents and providing attractive rentals and sales opportunities for new entrants to the market, it said. Traditionally, the majority of […]
Merger mania in Wall Street media shares was a profitable theme for me in 2018, particularly since I owned 21st Century Fox shares well before Walt Disney made its epic bid for the Murdoch clan’s flagship brand, the parent of President Trump’s beloved news channel. The Fox deal meant 65% paydirt for my trading book as the House of Mouse made a takeover bid for the House […]
I have gone gaga on software shares since 2013, when Satya Nadella redefined Microsoft – and tripled the valuation of the Evil Empire of Redmond in the next five years. True, Microsoft was the best Big Tech performer of 2018, an annus horribilis for the best and brightest of Silicon Valley. The world’s most exciting software shares were slammed by the bearish bloodbath on NASDAQ. However, when […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Global trade enabler DP World announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 71.3% stake in Puertos y Logistica S.A. from Minera Valparaiso and other shareholders associated with the Matte Group. Pulogsa is listed on the Santiago stock exchange, and the acquisition will be effected via a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of the business. Under the tender process DP […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|Kizad, part of Abu Dhabi Ports, has launched Kizad Polymers Park, which will form an integral part of the polymers conversion ecosystem in the Emirate. The Park aims to be a major economic driver for the UAE, producing 300-400 kilo tonnes of plastic products a year, creating up to 7,000 new jobs, and contributing $2.5 billion to GDP by 2025. The potential export market […]
The Euro has been a disaster since its birth in 1999. Its monetary pathologies led to youth unemployment rates of 50-60% in Greece, Spain and the Italian Mezzogiorno. It gave a trillion-dollar windfall to German exporters at the expense of the hapless Club Med and amplified Berlin’s diktat over the lands once occupied by the Third Reich. It created the milieu for Brexit, the gilets jaunes riots […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The value of UAE online travel sales in 2018 is forecast to reach AED 17.3 billion ($4.7 billion), driven by a growing population, an increasing number of tourists, and UAE residents’ shift towards digital services, new analysis from Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has revealed. The analysis, based on recent data from Euromonitor International, found that direct online sales in 2018 are expected […]
|By James M. Dorsey| A series of Gulf and Middle East-related developments suggest that resolving some of the Middle East’s most debilitating and devastating crises while ensuring that efforts to pressure Iran do not perpetuate the mayhem may be easier said than done. They also suggest that the same is true for keeping US and Saudi interests aligned. Optimists garner hope from the fact that the US Senate may […]
