Friday 21 May 2010

Nakheel Faces Canceled Projects After Debt Agreement

Nakheel PJSC, the Dubai World construction unit that received state cash to pay contractors and suppliers, may face an even greater challenge in deciding which of its planned projects to cancel.

In March, the company said it was evaluating its portfolio to identify “essential projects.” Nakheel will decide what buildings will be completed at the end of the restructuring process, a spokeswoman who declined to be named said by telephone yesterday.

Nakheel, the builder of palm-shaped islands off Dubai’s coast, is restructuring $10.5 billion of debt and has asked trade creditors to wait five years to receive full payment after falling behind on its bills. The Dubai government in March pledged to pump $8 billion in cash into Nakheel to help it pay contractors and suppliers and complete developments. Its unrealized plans include residential islands shaped like a world map and a coastal development that would be twice the size of Hong Kong Island.

Dubai International Financial Center Cuts Jobs Amid ‘Review’

Dubai International Financial Center, the Gulf emirate’s state-owned tax-free business park, has cut jobs as part of a business “review” and to lower costs.

The DIFC declined to specify how many jobs it reduced in an e-mailed response to questions from Bloomberg News, saying it is “reviewing its strategic focus” that will “result in an optimum utilization of resources.”

DIFC opened in 2004 to attract international banks, asset managers and insurers and is home to the regional offices of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc. Property prices in Dubai, the second-biggest of seven states that make up the United Arab Emirates, have fallen more than 50 percent from their peak in 2008 as the credit crisis led to a cut in mortgage lending and pushed companies to scale back.