Tuesday 29 January 2013

Times of Oman | Vision launches Sharia-compliant GCC fund in Oman

Vision Investment Services has set a new trend by introducing the first Sharia-compliant fund in Oman. The Vision Al Khair GCC Fund (Sharia-compliant) is an investment vehicle, wherein all financial instruments of the fund are in compliance with acceptable Sharia principles and policies.  It is an investment programme, wherein the fund seeks investments in financial instruments of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies to earn profits that are in conformity with the precepts of Sharia.

The initial subscription period of the fund is from January 10, 2013 to February 10, 2013 and the subscription is open to all nationalities. Elaborating about the fund, Ali Mohammed Juma, chief executive said, "We are pleased to announce the launch of the first Sharia-compliant fund in Oman. This Fund is coming in response to the increasing demand in Sharia-compliant options in different markets for investments and savings, for government and semi government organisations, corporates, institutions and individuals."
Times of Oman | Vision launches Sharia-compliant GCC fund in Oman

Qatar says to invest in smaller Greek firms

Qatar signed an agreement with Greece on Tuesday for the wealthy Gulf state to invest in small and medium-sized Greek companies, officials from both countries said.

The agreement was reached during a visit by Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to Qatar.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told a news conference that his country was prepared to put 1 billion euros ($1.34 billion) into a fund to conduct the investment, with Greece providing a similar amount. But he added that a timetable for the scheme had not been set.
Qatar says to invest in smaller Greek firms

India needs more than rate cut



[video] India needs more than rate cut | beyondbrics

The Reserve Bank of India has cut rates by 25 basis points to encourage growth. Lex’s Stuart Kirk and Julia Grindell discuss whether this is enough, and the impact on equities.

Out of the bottle - China has released data on income equality for the first time in 12 years

Bahrain's Investcorp eyeing Italy luxury brands - The National

Investcorp, one of the Middle East's largest private equity firms, is on the lookout for Italian luxury and retail brands that want to expand internationally.

"We have spent a lot of time talking to the owners of some very well-known Italian brands and are always on the lookout for interesting brands with the potential to internationalise," Hazem Ben-Gacem, the head of corporate investments for Europe, said.

Mr Ben-Gacem also said he was not too concerned about next month's election in Italy.
Bahrain's Investcorp eyeing Italy luxury brands - The National

National Bank of Abu Dhabi Plans Bonds Sales as Net Climbs 55% - Bloomberg

National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, the United Arab Emirates’ second-biggest lender by assets, plans to sell bonds after reporting a higher-than-expected increase in fourth-quarter profit.
Net income rose to 1.12 billion dirhams ($305 million) from 724 million dirhams a year earlier, the Abu Dhabi-based bank said today in a statement. That beat the median 878 million- dirham estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Full-year profit climbed 17 percent to 4.3 billion dirhams, it said.
“Our growth was a result of the success of our diversified business model, investment gains driven by favorable financial market conditions and successful hedging strategies,” Chief Executive Officer Michael Tomalin said in the statement.
National Bank of Abu Dhabi Plans Bonds Sales as Net Climbs 55% - Bloomberg

Egypt Exchange close - January 29, 2013

General Index
Intraday  3 month  
 Daily Statistics
 Date29/01/2013
 General Index5495.3
 Change (%)-2.01%
 Change-112.72
 T. Volume89907646
 T. Companies 444
   Advanced68
   Declined65
   Unchanged17
   UnTraded161
Egypt Exchange

MENA stock markets close - January 29, 2013

 ExchangeStatus IndexChange  
 
 TASI (Saudi Stock Market)
 
7020.36-0.02%  
 
 DFM (Dubai Financial Market)
 
1853.171.75%  
 
 ADX (Abudhabi Securities Exchange)
 
2839.041.15%  
 
 KSE (Kuwait Stock Exchange)
 
6247.680.40%  
 
 BSE (Bahrain Stock Exchange)
 
1085.610.58%  
 
 MSM (Muscat Securities Market)
 
5836.40.38%  
 
 QE (Qatar Exchange)
 
8689.690.28%  
 
 LSE (Beirut Stock Exchange)
 
1202.9-0.41%  
 
 EGX 30 (Egypt Exchange)
 
5495.3-2.01%  
 
 ASE (Amman Stock Exchange)
 
2053.9-0.25%  
 
 TUNINDEX (Tunisia Stock Exchange)
 
4746.25-0.00%  
 
 CB (Casablanca Stock Exchange)
 
8918.91-0.33%  
 
 PSE (Palestine Securities Exchange)
 
472.070.11%  
MENA stock markets

Egypt Stocks Drop Most in World Amid Turmoil, Political Standoff - Bloomberg

Egypt’s shares fell the most in the world after the country’s main opposition bloc rejected talks with President Mohamed Mursi, signaling the nation’s political crisis may be prolonged.
The North African country’s benchmark EGX 30 Index (EGX30) retreated 2.1 percent to 5,490.36 as of 1:30 p.m. in Cairo. That’s the biggest drop among 93 indexes tracked by Bloomberg. The gauge has retreated 3.5 percent this week as escalating violence left dozens dead since the second anniversary of the Jan. 25 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
Egyptian Defense Minister Abdelfatah Al-Seesi warned of a “collapse of the state” after the National Salvation Front, a group of secular opposition parties, refused talks with Mursi, an Islamist. Commercial International Bank Egypt SAE, the country’s biggest publicly traded lender, slumped 5.6 percent. Talaat Moustafa Group Holding, the largest publicly traded property developer, was set for the lowest close since Dec. 11.
Egypt Stocks Drop Most in World Amid Turmoil, Political Standoff - Bloomberg

Dubai Stocks Rise Most in World on Profit Bets, Property Rebound - Bloomberg

Dubai stocks advanced the most in the world as a real estate recovery in the sheikhdom spurred bets companies including Emaar Properties PJSC (EMAAR) will post stronger full-year earnings and dividends.
Emaar, developer of the world’s tallest tower, surged to the highest level since October 2009. Emirates NBD PJSC (EMIRATES), the biggest United Arab Emirates bank by assets, soared 8.6 percent on volume of more than six times the three-month daily average. The benchmark DFM General Index jumped 1.8 percent to 1,853.17, the strongest since April 2010, at the close in Dubai. The gain was the biggest among 94 global indexes tracked by Bloomberg.
Dubai’s property industry recovered last year after a crash sent prices plunging 65 percent from mid-2008 peaks. Emaar, which has the heaviest weighting on Dubai’s measure, rose 7.4 percent since saying Jan. 27 that a luxury hotel project in central Dubai sold out all units available in the first offering. The developer’s 2012 profit probably rose 16 percent, the average estimate of 11 analysts compiled by Bloomberg shows.
Dubai Stocks Rise Most in World on Profit Bets, Property Rebound - Bloomberg

Dragon Oil, Kuwait Energy to work in Basra - UPI.com

Dubai's Dragon Oil said it was joined by independent Kuwait Energy in receiving permission from Baghdad to start oil exploration work in Basra province.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry signed a final service contract for Dragon Oil and Kuwait Energy to work in Block 9, a 347-square-mile site in southern Basra.

The companies said they're eligible for a 20-year development project should Block 9 find commercial reserves during a five-year exploration period. Neither party gave a reserve expectation.
Dragon Oil, Kuwait Energy to work in Basra - UPI.com

NBAD customer deposits jump 25% to $53bn as net profits jump 17% to $1.2bn « ArabianMoney

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi today reported a 25 per cent surge in customer deposits to $53 billion in 2012 as well as a 17 per cent jump in profits to $1.2 billion. Ranked among the 50 safest banks in the world and the safest in the Middle East this is what it means to be a safe haven from the Arab Spring.

CEO Michael Tomalin said: ‘Our growth was a result of the success of our diversified business model, investment gains driven by favorable financial market conditions and successful hedging strategies.

‘We also continued to expand our international presence by opening offices in China and Malaysia, and we have set a target of expanding internationally from 14 countries to 41 countries by 2022.’
NBAD customer deposits jump 25% to $53bn as net profits jump 17% to $1.2bn « ArabianMoney

Emirates Bond After Dubai Signals Corporate Allure: Arab Credit - Bloomberg

Dubai companies are set to pick up the pace of bond sales to profit from lower borrowing costs after yields plunged last week at an offering by the sheikhdom, according to the United Arab Emirates’ biggest bank.
Sales by Dubai-based entities are likely to surpass last year’s $6.95 billion, according to Mohammad Kamran Wajid, head of Emirates NBD (EMIRATES) PJSC’s investment banking unit. The government lowered its costs by 40 percent when it sold 10-year Islamic bonds on Jan. 22, while also raising debut 30-year debt. Emirates, the world’s largest airline by international traffic, and Dubai Electricity & Water Authority will probably follow the government’s lead, Wajid said.
“Every entity that has been to the market before will be there in the market” this year, Wajid, chief executive officer of Emirates NBD Capital Ltd., said in a Jan. 27 interview. “All major debt restructurings are more or less done, the Dubai growth story has always been there and there’s a lot of confidence now in Dubai on the debt-management side.”
Emirates Bond After Dubai Signals Corporate Allure: Arab Credit - Bloomberg

SingTel sells Warid Telecom stake to Abu Dhabi | Reuters

Singapore Telecommunications said on Tuesday it has agreed to sell its entire 30 percent stake in Pakistan's Warid Telecom to a unit of the Abu Dhabi Group for $150 million.

"Excluding the value of any future transaction interest, the estimated loss on disposal will be approximately S$230 million ($186 million), including the foreign currency translation losses and transaction costs," SingTel said in a stock market filing.End

DP World Says 2012 Ebitda Matched $1.31 Billion Estimate - Bloomberg

DP World Ltd. (DPW) expects full-year Ebitda to be in line with analysts’ estimates of $1.31 billion as the world’s third-largest port operator manages costs and benefits from lower net financing charges.
Container volumes rose 2.4 percent to 56.1 million twenty- foot equivalent units across it operations last year, DP World said in a statement to Nasdaq Dubai today. Adjusting for divestment of four joint-venture terminals, like-for-like gross container volume growth was 3.7 percent.
“After a strong start to the year we had a challenging second half,” Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Sharaf said in the statement. “Our tight focus on cost management and higher quality revenue mean we still expect to achieve Ebitda in line with expectations for 2012. Lower net financing charges will benefit reported profit before tax.”
DP World Says 2012 Ebitda Matched $1.31 Billion Estimate - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia Leads Major Weapons Markets in Corruption Ranking - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia is among the biggest arms-importing countries that have insufficient safeguards against corruption in the defense industry, Transparency International said.
Seven of the nine countries that imported more than $1.5 billion of weapons in 2011 ranked between high and very high for corruption risk, the non-profit organization said today as it unveiled a ranking of 82 countries. Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey and China were among the largest markets with the lowest grades.
Saudi Arabia signed a $29.4 billion agreement with the U.S. in 2011 to buy 84 new F-15 fighter jets and modernize 70 existing ones. A unit of European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. (EAD) is currently being investigated by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office over bribery allegations in the country.
Saudi Arabia Leads Major Weapons Markets in Corruption Ranking - Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi's TAQA seals $1.4 bln financing for Morocco plant | Reuters

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co , the state-owned firm which recently bought some of BP's North Sea assets, sealed a $1.4 billion financing for the expansion of its power plant in Morocco.

Jorf Lasfar is the largest coal-fired power plant in the Middle East and North Africa and the first independent power producer (IPP) in Morocco, supplying 40 per cent of the Kingdom's electricity output, TAQA said in a statement.

The financing is the largest in over a decade for an international project in Morocco with Japanese and Korean export credit agencies participating for the first time in Moroccan project finance, the utility and energy firm said.
Abu Dhabi's TAQA seals $1.4 bln financing for Morocco plant | Reuters

Qatar to invest US$5b in Malaysia

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund plans to spend half of the US$10 billion it expects to invest in Malaysia on a petrochemicals complex aimed at transforming the Southeast Asian nation into a global hub for the oil and gas trade.

The Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex in the southern state of Johor is expected to help Malaysia compete with neighbouring Singapore to become the region’s top petrochemical hub.

“We are in discussions about this. We may invest up to US$5 billion in the next three to four years into petrochemical projects here (in Pengerang),” Qatar Holding LLC vice chairman Hussain Ali al-Abdulla told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Qatar to invest US$5b in Malaysia

Jordan to join bond-offer bandwagon - The National

Governments and companies in the Middle East are jumping on the bond bandwagon to take advantage of a wave of cheap credit and lock in lower interest payments.

Jordan is preparing for an international bond launch this year, the prime minister Abdullah Ensour told Bloomberg News this month, having passed a law last year paving the way for sovereign sukuk sales.

Jordan was in need of international funding to close a yawning deficit that has grown worse after the Arab Spring, said Mathias Angonin, an associate analyst at Moody's Investors Service.
Jordan to join bond-offer bandwagon - The National

BP rethinking Libya operations after Algeria crisis - The National

BP is reconsidering its operations in Libya after the terrorist attack on its gas facilities in Algeria and as industry concerns over security in Libya grow.

"We had expected to restart drilling at the end of the second quarter this year, but we're currently reviewing our plans," a BP spokesperson said.

The British oil major was left stunned by the attack on Ain Amenas gasfield - operated by BP, Statoil and Algeria's Sonatrach - which left 37 foreign workers dead after a four-day siege.
BP rethinking Libya operations after Algeria crisis - The National

Brazil farmers reap from Adep's financial lifeline - The National

It's harvest season in Brazil. Growers are dumping their crops into the international markets, causing prices to go down.

A farmer wants to wait until prices stabilise before selling his crop to the international traders.

But his suppliers are hassling him, asking him to pay for his fertiliser, seeds and equipment he has used in the last year.
Brazil farmers reap from Adep's financial lifeline - The National

Etihad set to buy 24 per cent stake of Jet Airways | GulfNews.com

Etihad Airways will buy a 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways (India) Ltd. for about Rs 16 billion ($297 million) in a deal likely to be announced as early as this week, a senior official at India’s civil aviation ministry said on Monday.
“I would believe the deal is as good as done,” the official told The Wall Street Journal. The official didn’t want to be named, as he isn’t allowed to speak on private company deals. India’s Commerce Minister, Anand Sharma, said he will meet a delegation of Etihad executives in “a couple of days”. A statement issued by the minister didn’t say why the executives are meeting him. A senior executive at Jet Airways, India’s second-largest airline by market share, declined to comment. The likely deal will make Jet Airways the first beneficiary of a rule change last year that allowed foreign airlines to buy stakes of up to 49 per cent in Indian carriers.
Etihad set to buy 24 per cent stake of Jet Airways | GulfNews.com

Dubai airport set to overtake London Heathrow as the busiest international airport in the world « ArabianMoney

Dubai International Airport has displaced Hong Kong as the world’s third busiest international airport and stands poised to become the busiest in the world by overtaking London Heathrow.

By April the new fourth all-A380 terminal will be fully operational with Qantas moving all its flights from Singapore to Dubai. The ongoing expansion of Emirates Airline and other Gulf carriers should put Dubai International Airport easily into the number one slot within the next year or two, according to an ArabianMoney forecast based on traffic growth.
Dubai airport set to overtake London Heathrow as the busiest international airport in the world « ArabianMoney

Dubai Suitcases of Cash Circumvent Loan Rules: Mortgages - Bloomberg

Dubai real estate agent Laura Adams remembers the Iranian homebuyer because of how he wanted to pay.
“He literally put a suitcase on my desk, opened it up and it was full of 1,000 dirham notes,” the Carlton Real Estate managing director said in an interview. “I asked him to go across the road to Western Union and get it exchanged for a manager’s check, half a million dirhams ($136,000).”
Cash is king in the Persian Gulf emirate’s rebounding property market, limiting the power of regulators to control rising prices that fueled the last property bubble by imposing restrictions on mortgage loans to foreigners. Buyers from Iran to Russia to Greece are paying cash in as many as 70 percent of Dubai home purchases, up from 49 percent in 2007, according to researcher Reidin.com.
Dubai Suitcases of Cash Circumvent Loan Rules: Mortgages - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia to Sustain Crude Exports Through 2030, Prince Says - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, will be able to sustain the current level of shipments for the next two decades even as local demand for fuel rises, the assistant minister of petroleum said.
The kingdom will be able to keep exports at the present level until at least 2030 without adding capacity, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said yesterday by phone from Riyadh. The nation’s crude production capacity is 12.5 million barrels a day, he said.
“We will maintain our current oil exports levels for the next twenty years and beyond despite the rise in demand,” the minister said. “Those who are forecasting the kingdom to turn into an oil importer are ignorant bordering idiocy.”
Saudi Arabia to Sustain Crude Exports Through 2030, Prince Says - Bloomberg