Tuesday 10 March 2009

GFH says Gulf banks and firms poised for mergers in 2009

Gulf banks are expected to record lower earnings in 2009 as they continue to suffer from the global financial turmoil and this could trigger a wave of mergers in the sector this year, a key regional bank said yesterday.

The Bahraini-based Gulf Finance House (GFH) said it also expected consolidations in the private small and medium enterprises while a decline in assets of some firms would tempt investors to acquire some of them.

In a study about the impact of the global economic distress on the GCC, GFH presented a gloomy outlook for the economies of the 28-year-old group as a result of an expected 60 per cent plunge in oil export earnings.

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