SAUDI ARABIA. Jadwa Investment, the Saudi asset manager focused on Sharia’ah compliant mutual and private equity funds, has just issued its Quarterly Global Oil Market Update (Q3 2014). Summary of the report · The combination of accelerating US supply, weaker than expected global demand, stabilization in geopolitics, and an appreciation of the dollar, led to oil prices dropping by 7.3 percent in Q3 2014, to an average of […]
ABU DHABI // Concerns about the UAE’s food security should not be believed, according to the chief executive of a food retail company. Wisal Ahmed, who heads the Alam Group, which owns the eponymous supermarkets, said the country had sufficient resources to take care of any unforeseen circumstances, whether man-made or natural. A UK-based research centre, Chatham House, published a report in November last year in which […]
The planned merger of the United Arab Emirates’ two main stock exchanges, home to the second-best performing share gauge in the world, will take more time to complete, according to a Dubai government official. “It’s still on the table,” Mohammed Al Shaibani, chief executive officer of Investment Corp. of Dubai, the emirate’s main state-owned holding company, said in an interview today at a Dubai conference. “We were […]
Kuwait plans clamp on energy subsidies Kuwait starting to cut subsidies, says IMF DUBAI, 3 hours, 26 minutes ago Kuwait’s government has started reducing some state subsidy payments and is in an advanced stage of preparing a plan to cut subsidies for kerosene and electricity, the International Monetary Fund said. Subsidy cuts are an important economic reform for Kuwait because lavish subsidies, mostly on energy, swallow about […]
By S. Sethuraman The Reserve Bank of India’s Fourth Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement on September 30 does not offer any hint of monetary easing in the near future, again citing risks to lowering at present the policy lending repo rate from 8 per cent it has maintained since April, in the current fiscal year. This leaves all other policy rates and reserve ratios unchanged, (reverse […]
New home? Chelsea could move to Twickenham while Stamford Bridge is redeveloped Photo: PA YES, the sort of widespread disruption that once accompanied football matches is a thing of the past, says Jim White. The very idea of Chelsea fans arriving in Twickenham has apparently put some locals in a state of high anxiety. They are terrified for their hubcaps, petrified about their herbaceous borders, panicked about the […]
Dubai’s stock market looks set to see an influx of cash this week when Emaar Malls Group returns to investors the surplus funds from subscriptions to its initial public offer, which could boost the prices of other stocks. EMG, a subsidiary of Dubai’s largest listed developer Emaar Properties, closed subscriptions last Friday and will announce the final offer price on Monday, according to its prospectus. Sources familiar […]
|By TAP Staff| Dubai buyout firm Abraaj is teaming up with TPG Capital, based in Fort Worth, Texas, for a deal to buy a majority stake in Saudi Arabian fast-food chain Kudu, it has been reported. Kudu operates about 200 outlets in Saudi Arabia selling grilled chicken sandwiches, burgers and breakfasts. According to Bloomberg, the pickup in Middle East investment comes as dealmaking by private-equity firms in […]
Saudi exported just below 7 million barrels of oil per day in May-July,the lowest amount since September 2011 Saudi Q2 GDP growth down to 3.8pc on oil slowdown DUBAI, 19 hours, 16 minutes ago By Martin Dokoupil Saudi Arabia’s economic growth eased to an annual 3.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2014, the lowest rate in a year, because of a slowdown in the oil […]
|By TAP Staff| The success of Emaar’s malls IPO has prompted Nakheel to consider a flotation on the local stock market. Such a possibility was indicated by top Nakheel official Sanjay Manchanda, who spoke to reporters at the sidelines of Cityscape. “The market is definitely very receptive to Dubai IPOs now. The success of Emaar will be an encouraging sign for us. Should we decide to list […]
|By TAP Staff| Dubai Duty Free (DDF) has completed re-pricing a $1.75 billion loan for the second time in about a year with more favourable terms, the leading retailer announced in a statement. It said a second facility worth $750 million has also been renegotiated. The $1.75 billion six-year loan, originally signed in July 2012 but repriced a year later, now carries an interest rate of 1.5 […]
The new smartphone being introduced this week by BlackBerry will be cheaper than both the Apple iPhone 6 and the newest Samsung Galaxy edition. But will anyone notice? The BlackBerry Passport will sell for $599 without a wireless carrier contract in the U.S. Compared to various models of the iPhone 6 and Samsung’s Galaxy S4 currently on sale, that’s a price cut of about $50 to $250. […]
A project displayed at Cityscape Global 2014. Rory Jones for The Wall Street Journal Dubai’s showcase annual real-estate event appears to offer more substance than style this year: Cityscape Global had fewer glitzy property launches on day one than last year, and there were no backroom scuffles as investors scrambled to snap up units of premier developers. There was still plenty of real estate for sale as […]
Hedge funds extended this year’s longest exit from bullish gold bets as slumping prices and investor outflows since June erased $6.7 billion from the value of exchange-traded funds backed by the metal. The net-long position in New York futures and options fell for a fifth straight week, with speculators boosting short bets to the highest since June, U.S. government data show. Investors sold 7.75 metric tons of […]
City skyscrapers stand on the waterfront seen from a construction site of residential apartments on Palm Jumeirah artificial island in Dubai. Bloomberg News A rebounding Dubai property market has caught everyone’s attention again. Following a colossal crash in property prices in the wake of the financial crisis, not many had expected a recovery so soon afterwards, or so swiftly. The total amount invested in the emirate’s property […]
Ortolans are trapped and put, alive, into a vat of Armagnac before they are cooked Photo: MaxPPP The customary way of eating ortolan, a delicate songbird, involves the diner covering his or her head with a large napkin. Tradition dictates that this is to shield – from God’s eyes – the shame of such a decadent and disgraceful act. But if a clutch of leading French chefs have […]
|By TAP Staff| Emaar Properties said the IPO of its shopping malls business unit has been sold out to institutional investors on the first day itself. The leading developer aiming to raise as much as AED 5.8 billion ($1.58 billion) from the offer of shares in Emaar Malls Group (EMG), which is expected to be the Gulf’s biggest stock sale since 2008. On offer are 2 billion […]
By Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Tommy Wilkes NEW DELHI/MUMBAI Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:12pm IST 1 of 4. Visitors look at Android One Based mobiles after its launch in New Delhi September 15, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Anindito Mukherjee NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – Google Inc(GOOGL.O) launched in India on Monday a $105 smartphone, the first device from its “Android One” initiative which is aimed at boosting sales in key emerging […]
Boom and bust – two words that are regularly heard when the property market in the United Arab Emirates, especially Dubai, is discussed. But that theme appears to be changing. At least that’s what some industry experts are indicating. The property market, after rebounding sharply since early 2013 from the global financial crisis-induced crash, is now showing signs of stabilising – with the pace of growth in […]
|TAP Special| A lower oil price has now become both an economic and political necessity. This is in view of the complications introduced by the disruption of Middle East politics brought about by recent advances by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Bank of America Merrill Lynch notes in a review of the regional political and economic situation that the threat of a radical Islamic Sunni […]
|By TAP Staff| Asia is giving expression to its growing disenchantment with the prevailing West-centred gold pricing mechanism by setting in place its own benchmarks that reflect the region’s market dynamics. China and Singapore are preparing to launch physical bullion contracts with an eye on gaining pricing power of the metal at a time when the global benchmark is under scrutiny. CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives […]
When Saudi Arabia lowered its oil prices last week, analysts declared that the No. 1 oil producer was more focused on maintaining its share of a well-supplied global market than on keeping prices at $100 a barrel or higher. AFP/Getty Images “It is fair to say that the kingdom is not in a rush to cut production soon,” said London consulting firm Energy Aspects in a note […]
Colliers Houses prices in Dubai are cooling, and in some areas, they are even falling, according to the latest quarterly report from Colliers International. Average house prices were up 3% across Dubai in the second quarter, compared with the first three months of the year, and are still up 20% on a year-on-year basis. But average villa prices actually fell slightly from AED1,480 per square foot to […]
Dubai’s boom-and-bust real estate market can land you at the wheel of a Rolls-Royce or behind bars. Kabir Mulchandani should know: he’s experienced both. Five years after spending 140 days in jail facing charges of fraud and embezzlement for which he ultimately was cleared, the chairman of developer SKAI Holdings stands at a building site watching cranes start work on one of the company’s three projects. They […]
