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AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, business briefs column
(AME Info (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jul. 16--EMIRATES NBD TO OFFER STAKE: Emirates NBD will sell offer a 5 percent stake to foreigners, while the balance will remain with UAE nationals, a senior Emirates Bank International executive told Emirates Today. The bank, with combined assets of around $45bn, is the result of a merger of Emirates Bank International and National Bank of Dubai. The Dubai government, which owns 76.62 percent of EBI and 14.25 percent of NBD, will hold a 55.35 percent stake in the new bank.
EMAAR $893M H1 PROFIT: Emaar Properties has reported a profit of $893m for H1 2007, up 7 percent over $831m earned in H1 2006. Second quarter profit was $424m, marginally up on $418m in Q2 2006. Q2 revenues grew 47 percent to $1.136bn. The developer said it has a total land bank of 4.8bn sqft over 30 markets around the world.
SEEF TO LIST ON 29 JULY: Local developer Seef Properties will list its shares on the Bahrain Stock Exchange on 29 July 2007, two months after the company raised $200m through an initial public offering, Gulf Daily News reported. A new board was elected for three years at an ordinary general meeting held yesterday.
SAVOLA PROFIT UP ON SALE PROCEEDS: Saudi-based Savola Group's Q2 2007 profit more than tripled to a record $203.7m, Reuters reports. The food company banked $190m by selling its 30 percent stake in Egyptian Fertilizers Co to Dubai-based Abraaj Capital; Q2 profit would have fallen about 80 percent without including the sale proceeds in the results, according to Reuters. H1 earnings per share more than doubled to 2.4 riyals, while shareholders are being offered a dividend of one riyal per share.
KH IPO RETAIL SUBSCRIBED 40 PERCENT: The retail portion of Kingdom Holding's $861m IPO was subscribed 40 percent by the end of Saturday with 453,000 investors, according to Reuters. The IPO closes on 18th July. Half of the shares are reserved for institutional investors.
DIP TO ATTRACT $14BN: Dubai Investments Park expects to attract $13.89bn in investment by the end of 2007, according to a company statement. The company has already attracted nearly half this amount in investments and more than 950 tenants. DIP, along with Dubai Industrial City, Dubai World Central and Jebel Ali Free Zone, will represent the region's largest manufacturing, industrial and logistics zone.
UAE NEEDS VISION: The UAE must develop a long term vision and avoid a "race to the bottom" caused by dependence on low-wage, low-skilled workers, according to delegates at a ministerial workshop. Dr Anwar Gargash, minister for Federal National Council affairs conducted the event, which included policy advisers, HR professionals and labour market analysts.
SAUDI BANKS WEIGH DOWN TASI: Saudi shares gave up some of the gains made in the previous three sessions as bank stocks fell Sunday, Bloomberg reports. The Tadawul All-Share Index dropped 1 percent to 7,463.78 points, after gaining 4.2 percent in the previous three days. Al Rajhi Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi and Bank Albilad dropped 2 percent, 4.2 percent and 3.3 percent respectively. On debut, Saudi Printing & Packaging Company shares jumped 126 percent from their initial public offering price.
SWISS BROKERS ON DIFX: Swiss brokers can now trade directly on the Dubai International Financial Exchange, after the Swiss Federal Banking Commission authorised the move. Brokers in the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland can also carry out trades from home on the exchange.
DUBAI $2.24BN ROUGH DIAMOND TRADE: Dubai's rough diamond trade was worth $2.24bn in the first half of 2007, a 17 percent increase on $1.91bn in H1 2006, according to the Dubai Diamond Exchange. Imports increased by 26 percent to $937m, and exports by 12 percent to more than $1.3bn. The exchange said there was a growth in imports from leading mining countries Russia and Angola.
ECONOMISTS CONFRONT AHMADINEJAD: Iranian economists have confronted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about his government's economic policies which they said were frittering away the country's oil wealth. The group told the president in a meeting last week that his economic policies were 'inexpert' and lacked 'any basis in science', AFP reported. The central bank has predicted inflation will rise to 17 percent in the year to March 2008.
INDIAN SHARES IN RECORD CLIMB: Foreign investors are set to push Indian stocks to new record highs this week, Gulf News reported. Offshore money has been driving up the Sensex, which has hit record highs in eight of 10 trading days so far in July. Foreign portfolio investment in Indian stocks has topped $3.5bn since late June, nearly half the $7.7bn for the whole of 2007, the report said.
SAUDI STOCKS MAINTAIN SURGE: Saudi shares rose 1.1 percent on Saturday to continue last week's run which saw the bourse put on 3.94 percent. Sabic closed 1.4 percent higher as investors bought up the bellwether's shares on expected strong Q2 earnings. The Tadawul All-Share Index is down 5 percent this year. The Kuwait Stock Exchange fell for a second day, with the benchmark index losing 0.2 percent to 12,399.00 points. Other Gulf exchanges were closed.
DIFX IN OMX BID SAYS REPORT: The Dubai International Financial Exchange could be making a late rival bid for OMX AB, owner of the Swedish Stock Exchange, according to the Daily Telegraph. The DIFC is believed to have funding in place to top US stock exchange group Nasdaq's proposed $3.7bn purchase of the company. DIFC could launch a bid as early as this week, the report said.
DFM $203.7M H1 PROFIT: The Dubai Financial Market Co. has announced a first half-year profit of $203.7m consisting of $127.5m in earnings generated by initial public offerings, and $76.2m from operating activities. Revenues from Q2 2007 operating activities rose 95 percent to $50.4m against $25.9m in Q2 2006, DFM said. Liquidity started flowing back into the market in Q2 2007, with the value of shares traded on the DFM reaching $22.6bn, compared with $11.7bn in Q1 2007.
OMAN'S OIL EARNINGS FALL: Oman government revenues fell 5.9 percent in the first four months of 2007, mainly due to a 19.8 percent drop in oil income, the Oman Daily Observer reports. Total state earnings reached $5.74bn, while oil revenues amounted to $3.51bn, according to the economy ministry's monthly bulletin. Oman is investing millions of dollars in enhanced oil recovery projects to recover more crude from ageing fields.
DOLLAR'S EURO WOES CONTINUE: The euro hit a new record high against the hapless dollar on Friday, reaching $1.38 for the first time since the European currency was created, according to reports. The dollar's latest decline came after official figures revealed an unexpected fall in US retail sales in June, as American consumers cut back their spending amid a persistent housing slump and higher petrol costs.
MTC MODEST H1 PROFIT GROWTH: Kuwait's MTC has announced a $517m profit in the first half of 2007, representing a 7 percent rise on the same period last year. Revenues surged 62 percent to $2.8bn against $1.73bn posted in H1 2006. The company's customer base increased 40 percent to 32.15m subscribers at the end of June compared to 22.9m a year ago. MTC recently won the third mobile license in Saudi Arabia and has been short-listed for Qatar's second mobile phone license auction among 11 other firms.
DIC BUYS 2.87 PERCENT ICICI BANK: State-owned Dubai International Capital has bought a 2.87 percent strategic stake in India's ICICI Bank, making it one of the bank's largest shareholders, according to reports. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but at Thursday's closing share price was worth $741.5m. ICICI is India's second largest bank. The deal follows DIC's recent acquisition of 3.12 percent of European aerospace group EADS.
INFLATION CLIMBS IN IRAN: Inflation in Iran rose sharply in June, according to central bank figures quoted by the Middle East Times. The annual inflation rate reached 14.2 percent after the consumer price index surged by 16.1 percent in the month from 22 May to 22 June 2007. The central bank has forecast an inflation rate of 17 percent in the current Iranian year to March 2008, compared with an official rate of 13.5 percent last year.
To see more of AME Info, go to http://www.ameinfo.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, AME Info, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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