Sunday 15 November 2015

Majid Al Futtaim targets Saudi and other Gulf markets | GulfNews.com

Majid Al Futtaim targets Saudi and other Gulf markets | GulfNews.com:

"Majid Al Futtaim, the owner and operator of seven malls in the UAE, says it is planning to open a shopping centre in the Saudi capital. The company is also looking to expand in other Gulf markets as well, according to a senior official at the company, which will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first shopping centre — Deira City Centre — this month.

Fuad Mansour Sharaf, Senior Director, Property Management at Shopping Malls for Majid Al Futtaim Properties, also said the company aims to double its current portfolio in the next five years, although he declined to give specific details.

Majid Al Futtaim Company, which celebrated last Thursday the completion of its expansion plans at the Muscat City Centre mall, is also planning to open another mall there, called the Mall of Oman, in the next few years."



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Saudi Arabia to start privatising airports in 2016 | GulfNews.com

Saudi Arabia to start privatising airports in 2016 | GulfNews.com:

"Saudi Arabia will begin privatising its airports and related services within the first quarter of 2016 as the government looks to diversify its income sources amid declining oil prices, the kingdom’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) said in a statement.

King Khalid International Airport will be privatised as Riyadh Airports Company in the first three months of the year. The air navigation sector will be privatised under the name Air Navigation Services Company in the second quarter, followed by the information technology sector which will become the Saudi Company for Aviation Information Systems in Q3-2016.

“The privatisation programme is in line with the kingdom’s plan to boost productivity and efficiency at its airport systems, as well as to ease the government’s financial burdens,” Sulaiman Al Hamdan, chairman of GACA, said in a statement."



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Dubai Stocks Slump Most Since August as Mideast Markets Recoil - Bloomberg Business

Dubai Stocks Slump Most Since August as Mideast Markets Recoil - Bloomberg Business:

"Disappointing company earnings, falling oil prices and a wave of terrorism culminating in Friday’s attacks in Paris unsettled investors, leading to losses in almost every Middle Eastern market.
Dubai’s DFM General Index dropped 3.7 percent, the most in almost three months, after Drake & Scull International PJSC became the latest United Arab Emirates construction company to report losses. Egypt’s EGX30 Index tumbled 4.2 percent to the lowest since December 2013 and Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index sank the most in almost three weeks. The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index, which tracks the top 200 companies in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, closed at the lowest since May 2013.
Drake & Scull joined larger rival Arabtec Holding Co. in reporting losses because of “challenging market conditions” after a more than 40 percent drop in Brent crude prices in the past 12 months led to deferred payments and project declines across the GCC. Oil prices may slide further after stockpiles expanded to a record of almost 3 billion barrels because of strong output from OPEC and elsewhere, the International Energy Agency said on Friday. Most governments in the region rely on income from crude to fund spending."



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UPDATE 1-IEA sees bear oil market as stocks balloon | Reuters

UPDATE 1-IEA sees bear oil market as stocks balloon | Reuters:

"The world is awash with oil having built record stockpiles in recent months and slowing demand growth combined with resilient non-OPEC supply could worsen the glut well into next year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.

"Stockpiles of oil at a record 3 billion barrels are providing world markets with a degree of comfort," the IEA said in a monthly report, adding brimming stocks offer an unprecedented buffer against geopolitical shocks or unexpected supply disruptions.

Oil prices have more than halved in the past 18 months with supply bolstered by U.S. shale oil output and OPEC's refusal to cede market share."



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Drake & Scull plans assets sale after posting loss | GulfNews.com

Drake & Scull plans assets sale after posting loss | GulfNews.com:

"Drake & Scull International PJSC, a Dubai-based engineering and construction company, reported its first quarterly loss and said it’s planning to sell non-core assets and cut cost to generate cash. The shares slid to a record low.

The company posted an Dh877.8 million ($239 million) attributable net loss in the three months through September, compared with profit of Dh21.4 million a year earlier, it said in statement Sunday to the Dubai stock market. The mean estimate of three analysts was for profit of Dh16.2 million.

Drake & Scull joins larger rival Arabtec Holding Co in reporting losses because of “challenging market conditions”. The company said it made one-off provisions and revenue adjustments after the decline in oil prices caused developers and clients to defer payments and delay projects across several markets."



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UPDATE 1-MIDEAST STOCKS-Construction shares tumble as Dubai hits 11-mth low | Reuters

UPDATE 1-MIDEAST STOCKS-Construction shares tumble as Dubai hits 11-mth low | Reuters:

"Construction stocks headed losers as Dubai's index fell to an 11-month low on Sunday, while a drop in oil prices and expectations of declines on international bourses next week due to the attacks in Paris also spurred selling on Gulf markets.

Dubai's Drake & Scull plunged the maximum daily limit of 10 percent to an all-time low after the contractor reported a third-quarter net loss of 985 million dirhams ($268.18 million).

Builder Arabtec dropped 8.5 percent to take its losses to 85 percent from a May 2014 high since when several senior management have left. It has reported widening losses in the past four quarters including a third-quarter loss of 944.8 million dirhams last week."



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Etisalat will soon be added to MSCI Emerging Markets Index | The National

Etisalat will soon be added to MSCI Emerging Markets Index | The National:

"The index complier MSCI will add Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat to its Emerging Markets Index at the end of this month. The move comes after the telecoms operator in September allowed foreign investors to own the blue-chip stock.

MSCI did not say what Etisalat’s weighting would be. The UAE and its stocks were incorporated into MSCI’s Emerging Markets Index in June last year after they were upgraded from their previous frontier markets designation in 2013.

“We can suspect that Etisalat shares will outperform the market in the coming days and weeks, before the stock is included in the benchmark,” said Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm The National Investor."



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MIDEAST STOCKS-Weak oil, Paris attacks hit Gulf bourses | Reuters

MIDEAST STOCKS-Weak oil, Paris attacks hit Gulf bourses | Reuters:

"Weak oil prices and the attacks by gunmen and suicide bombers across Paris dragged down Gulf stock markets early on Sunday, with Dubai's index dropping below technical support.

Oil prices suffered their biggest weekly loss in eight months last week, while analysts forecast major international bourses would suffer a brief sell-off when trading resumed on Monday.

Dubai's stock index sank 2.9 percent in the first hour of trade to 3,171 points, falling below chart support on its August low of 3,241 points. Its next support is at the December 2014 low of 2,993 points."



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