|By Arabian Post Staff| Overall sentiment in the GCC’s construction sector has improved over the last two years by approximately 7 per cent (from 32 per cent to 39 per cent), according to recent findings from Pinsent Masons’ GCC Construction Survey. The findings show that the UAE remains the number one market expected to deliver growth in 2018, with 38 per cent of respondents expecting the country […]
|By Manish Rai| The recent protests in Iran rang a warning bell for the ruling theocracy in Tehran. What started in Iran’s second largest and holy city of Mashhad over rising prices, transfigured into widespread, unprecedented protests against the theocratic regime in towns and cities across the country. The earlier protests mainly emerged from capital Tehran and some major cities. But the latest ones touch a vast panoply […]
|By Matein Khalid| I had projected a bloodbath in the US Treasury bond market since late 2016, when it was obvious that Trump’s tax reform would double the US budget deficit at the same time as the Federal Reserve prepared to “normalize” or shrink its balance sheet by $470 billion. Fiscal stimulus is often a policy ballast amid a depression, as in the early 1980’s or 2009, not […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is planning to significantly expand its use of Carbon Capture, Use and Storage (CCUS) technology to meet a six-fold increase in the utilization of CO2, for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), over the next 10 years. The volume of the greenhouse gas safely locked away underground will be equivalent to the CO2 emitted by more than one million motor […]
|By Matein Khalid| When I first started on a Treasury bond futures trading desk in New York fresh out of Wharton, a senior mentor once advised to keep track of the four heartbeats of gold finance in real time. The price of money (interest rates), the price of currency (the US dollar), the price of oil and the price of gold. The price of money can be […]
|By Matein Khalid| Dubai based Gulf Islamic Investments (GII) acquired a one million square foot Amazon logistics center in Dortmund, Germany for $144 million. This deal is a testament to the boutique global merchant bank created in Dubai by GII’s co-founder/CEO Pankaj Gupta, who I am honored to call a friend. I consciously model my own firm Asas Capial on the strategic path laid out by GII and […]
By Manish Rai Last year in June Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on Qatar for its alleged support to terror outfits and being too close to Iran. The Arab neighbours thought that by imposing this blockade they can pressurise Qatar to set aside its own ambitious foreign policy and toe the line of its bigger neighbours. But during […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai rental yields have trended lower structurally since 2009, indicating that investors are willing to accept risk with lower risk premia. Of all the major cities analyzed, Dubai remains far above the highest yielding city, suggesting that there is ample room for further yield compression, according to property portal Reidin. In the first nine months of 2017, even though level of transactions are […]
|By Matein Khalid|The rise in Brent crude to $60 a barrel and the trade volume ballast generated by the world’s first post Lehman synchronized economic recovery is hugely positive for UAE economic growth in 2018. After all, the UAE is unique because Abu Dhabi’s 100 billion barrels of proven oil reserves is complemented by Dubai’s role as the Gulf’s financial, logistics, aviation, shopping and services hub. The […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Analysts fear that the GCC mobile phone market could see a slump in the wake of the 2018 VAT roll-out, as it happened in many countries, which saw a pre-VAT buildup of inventories, followed by a major slump in sales. Such concerns come at a time when the region’s mobile phone market is already in a state of flux, with IDC’s latest Quarterly Mobile […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|New sectors such as privatisation, digital banking, fintech and blockchain will all become potentially important growth sectors for job creation in 2018, particularly in Dubai, according to Cooper Fitch Salary Guide for the next year. The economic outlook for the UAE for 2018 shows some good signs of growth, in terms of the creation of new opportunities and increased headcount for the year ahead, within the […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| ADNOC Distribution, the retail and fuel-selling arm of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company, will be valued at $8.5 billion — around the middle of a range of possible valuations — when trading opens on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) next week. The sale of 10 percent of the unit in an initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed “multiple” times by institutional investors, and […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| All eyes are on the next GCC annual GCC summit to be held in Kuwait on December 5 and 6. This is the first annual summit after the rift with Qatar dogged the pan-Gulf alliance. Gulf officials said the summit will go ahead despite an ongoing dispute between GCC members Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, on one side, and Qatar on the other. The […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| UAE-based multinational company, Crescent Enterprises, has announced the successful closing of its investment in ColubrisMX and XCath, two next-generation micro-robotic medical device companies through its newly launched corporate venture arm, Crescent Enterprises Venture Capital (CE-VC). Developed at the University of Texas Medical School’s Microsurgical Robotics Laboratory and incorporated in Texas, USA, both companies design and develop next-generation robotic technologies that are expected to revolutionise […]
|By Matein Khalid|I am often asked by investors to articulate my “philosophy” of real estate investing. Tough question. My ideal deal is one where it is possible to buy brick and mortar assets at 60 – 70% of replacement cost. This usually occurs in the aftermath of a banking crisis or economic shock. This was the case in Florida homes in 2009 or Spanish office space in […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|ADNOC plans to explore and appraise Abu Dhabi’s unconventional gas resources, as the company seeks to enable future value creation from its untapped gas resources, the company announced. ADNOC will spend over AED 400 billion over the next five years, as it embarks on its Upstream and Downstream expansion and growth projects, the company announced. The Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) approved ADNOC’s key strategic […]
|By Alia Al-Khater| The Middle East has a long history of coffee drinking traditions. Over the years, the traditions have been shifting towards more Western ones. More recently, numerous specialty coffee shops are being opened, many of which are run by local independent business owners. As people are beginning to appreciate quality coffee, the region can be characterized by its vastly expanding market for coffee drinking. Many of these […]
|By Matein Khalid| US and global equities surged on news of the US House of Representatives pass the tax reform bill, Cisco and Walmart posted blowout earnings and a potential bidding war emerged for Fox’s media assets. The rally on Thursday followed a week of carnage in the US high yield debt markets, flattening of the US Treasury yield curve and losses in the major stock market indices worldwide. […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| In a major endorsement to Saudi economic reforms initiated by Crown Prince Mohammad Salman, a top executive of American financial giant Bank of America Merrill Lynch said Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation will be “unstoppable” and there has already been a positive shift in the Kingdom’s business culture. Hootan Yazhari, managing director of the bank’s Dubai-based research department, said there are key moves being […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Boeing and flydubai signed a landmark agreement for 225 737 MAX airplanes with a list price value of $27 billion. The deal represents the largest-ever single-aisle jet order – by number of airplanes and total value – from a Middle East carrier. Signed at the 2017 Dubai Airshow in flydubai’s hometown, the agreement includes a commitment for 175 MAX airplanes, and purchase rights […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Boeing and Emirates announced a commitment to purchase 40 787-10 Dreamliners at the 2017 Dubai Airshow. The deal, including airplanes and related equipment, is valued at $15.1 billion at current list prices. Emirates is the world’s largest Boeing 777 operator and will be the first to receive the new 777X in 2020. In selecting the 787-10, Emirates complements their 777 fleet with a […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| An estimated $100 billion has been involved in the systematic corruption and embezzlement |that plagued Saudi Arabia over several decades, Saud Al Mojeb, the kingdom’s Attorney General and member of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Committee, announced. The disclosure came in a statement on the status of the anti-corruption proceedings, which are moving forward There is strong evidence that confirms initial suspicions, which led Saudi […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Emaar Development said on Thursday it plans to price its initial public offering in between Dh5.7 to Dh6.9, thereby valuing the company at Dh25.2 billion. The company plans to offer 800 million shares or 20 per cent of the share capital, it said in an emailed statement.The final price will be announced on November 16, and the shares will be listed on the […]
|By Matein Khalid|Emaar Properties will sell 20% of its UAE development portfolio in an initial public offering in November. This is the first IPO in the UAE capital markets in the last three years and follows bellwether offerings such as Emaar Malls and Emaar Misr. Emaar’s Dubai development’s adjusted net value is 24.1 UAE dirhams and I would not be surprised if the post IPO revalues the […]
