Drydocks World, a unit of Dubai World, said a proposed $2.2 billion loan deal with lenders expected to be completed by the end of April.
'Discussions (with banks) are still ongoing and it has not been completed yet,' Khamis Juma Buamim, chairman of Drydocks World said on Tuesday.
'I can't confirm if we will reach a restructuring agreement this year,' he added, when asked if he was confident an agreement would be struck before the loan comes due in November.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Standard and Poor Pour Water on UAE Recovery Hopes - News
Not too long after upsetting and embarrassing the first black President in America's history with the first downgrade of the US debt rating in America's history Standard and Poor won't be winning any friends in the gulf property market either. According to the ratings agency property prices and rents will continue to fall in the region throughout the second half of this year.
In a new outlook report on the gulf region, S&P said that they expect to see developers continuing to scale back their activities and concentrating more on rental and management of existing stocks, especially in markets that are oversupplied such as the UAE.
It also expects to see a similar sea-change as was witnessed in India 2 years ago, with developers increasingly turning their back on high-end residential developments to focus on housing and urban regeneration, particularly in Saudi Arabia.
In a new outlook report on the gulf region, S&P said that they expect to see developers continuing to scale back their activities and concentrating more on rental and management of existing stocks, especially in markets that are oversupplied such as the UAE.
It also expects to see a similar sea-change as was witnessed in India 2 years ago, with developers increasingly turning their back on high-end residential developments to focus on housing and urban regeneration, particularly in Saudi Arabia.
BNP Paribas plans to move some staff from Bahrain - ArabianBusiness.com
French lender BNP Paribas plans to move some of its back-office operations out of regional hub Bahrain after unrest in the kingdom earlier this year, two sources said on Tuesday.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said BNP may boost existing Gulf locations such as Dubai, Doha and Riyadh at the expense of Bahrain, though one said that a complete exit from the country, where it employs 383 staff, was unlikely.
The sources said they did not know how many employees would be affected by the proposed moves. A BNP Paribas spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said BNP may boost existing Gulf locations such as Dubai, Doha and Riyadh at the expense of Bahrain, though one said that a complete exit from the country, where it employs 383 staff, was unlikely.
The sources said they did not know how many employees would be affected by the proposed moves. A BNP Paribas spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.
MENA stock markets close - August 16, 2011
| Exchange | Status | Index | Change | ||||
 | TASI (Saudi Stock Market) | 6053.72 | -1.34% | ||||
 | DFM (Dubai Financial Market) | 1466.5 | -0.26% | ||||
| ADX (Abudhabi Securities Exchange) | 2585.8 | -0.55% | ||||
 | KSE (Kuwait Stock Exchange) | 5846.4 | 0.27% | ||||
 | BSE (Bahrain Stock Exchange) | 1266.22 | -0.06% | ||||
 | MSM (Muscat Securities Market) | 5454.6 | -0.44% | ||||
 | QE (Qatar Exchange) | 8137 | 0.28% | ||||
 | LSE (Beirut Stock Exchange) | 1305.35 | -0.03% | ||||
 | EGX 30 (Egypt Exchange) | 4624.46 | -0.44% | ||||
 | ASE (Amman Stock Exchange) | 2013.71 | -0.30% | ||||
 | TUNINDEX (Tunisia Stock Exchange) | 4401.23 | 0.23% | ||||
 | CB (Casablanca Stock Exchange) | 11339.7 | -0.59% | ||||
 | PSE (Palestine Securities Exchange) | 487.72 | -0.16% | ||||
Mubadala-GE Capital venture in growth mode - The National
Mubadala-GE Capital is in growth mode after lining up more than US$4 billion (Dh14.69bn) of loans and other financing in less than two years of existence.
The $8bn commercial finance joint venture between Mubadala Development and General Electric, one of the world's biggest business conglomerates, was 'going very well', said Ron Herman, the chief executive. The company had lined up about $2bn of financing for companies by the end of last year and had already doubled that amount this year, he said.
'We were profitable last year and will have larger profits this year,' said Mr Herman, who was a 25-year veteran at GE before moving to Abu Dhabi. 'So our business is healthy.'
The $8bn commercial finance joint venture between Mubadala Development and General Electric, one of the world's biggest business conglomerates, was 'going very well', said Ron Herman, the chief executive. The company had lined up about $2bn of financing for companies by the end of last year and had already doubled that amount this year, he said.
'We were profitable last year and will have larger profits this year,' said Mr Herman, who was a 25-year veteran at GE before moving to Abu Dhabi. 'So our business is healthy.'
Abu Dhabi brokerage sees great potential in Russia | Al Bawaba
A team from ADS Securities, the Abu Dhabi-based brokerage and trade services provider, is in Moscow attending ACI Russia Dealer’s Day, a high-profile event that brings together FX and financial services professionals in the Russian capital. ADS Securities, which recently launched USD/RUB products on its ADSS Trader platform, is confident that Russia will become another important international market for its FX offerings.
The Dealer’s Day is an annual invitation-only event organized by ACI Russia and the Moscow International Currency Association (MICA) on the anniversary of the Russian currency default in 1998.
Mahmood Ebraheem Al Mahmood, Chairman of ADS Securities said: “Russia is one of the most exciting financial markets in Europe and a key target for us. We believe that ADS Securities’ offer of platform, prices and service will be of great interest to Russian institutional, high-net-worth and professional traders. Moscow falls in the same time zone as Abu Dhabi, so they can benefit from our ability to provide liquidity and a strong market during the period between the close of Far East markets and the opening of European markets. Our mix of world class prices, deep liquidity and on and offline trading is a very compelling proposition.”
The Dealer’s Day is an annual invitation-only event organized by ACI Russia and the Moscow International Currency Association (MICA) on the anniversary of the Russian currency default in 1998.
Mahmood Ebraheem Al Mahmood, Chairman of ADS Securities said: “Russia is one of the most exciting financial markets in Europe and a key target for us. We believe that ADS Securities’ offer of platform, prices and service will be of great interest to Russian institutional, high-net-worth and professional traders. Moscow falls in the same time zone as Abu Dhabi, so they can benefit from our ability to provide liquidity and a strong market during the period between the close of Far East markets and the opening of European markets. Our mix of world class prices, deep liquidity and on and offline trading is a very compelling proposition.”
Kuwait Budget Surplus May Reach $42 Billion This Year, NBK Says - Bloomberg
Kuwait may post a budget surplus of as much as 11.4 billion dinars ($41.8 billion) based on projections that average oil prices will be between $104 and $112 a barrel for the whole of this fiscal year, the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said.
The government is projecting a budget deficit of 6 billion dinars in the current fiscal year which ends on March 31, based on an oil price of $60 a barrel. Spending is forecast at 19.4 billion dinars, the highest in Kuwait’s history, and revenue at 13.5 billion dinars.
“If, as we expect, spending comes in at 5 to 10 percent below the government’s forecast, the budget could see a surplus of between 7.3 billion dinars and 11.4 billion dinars,” the country’s largest commercial bank forecast in an e-mailed report today. NBK’s estimates are before the allocation of 10 percent of revenue in the Reserve Fund for Future Generations as required by law.
Global Investment Second-Quarter Loss Narrows; Shares Surge - Bloomberg
Global Investment House KSCC (GLOBAL), Kuwait’s biggest investment bank, said its second-quarter loss narrowed as interest expenses and operating costs declined. The shares surged the most in at least eight years.
The net loss in the second quarter was 16.7 million Kuwait dinars ($61.3 million) compared with 20.3 million dinars a year earlier, according to a company statement on the Kuwait bourse’s website. The first-half loss was 38.7 million dinars compared with 34.4 million dinars.
First-half principal investment losses of 28.2 million dinars were largely due to 6.8 million dinars in losses from the “share of results of associates” and the impact of political unrest on regional equity markets and on Global’s holdings, the company said in an e-mailed statement.
Egypt: still suffering | beyondbrics – FT.com
The political turmoil in Egypt since the start of the year has taken a heavy toll on company earnings as first half results reveal. Compared to the mayhem and loss of life in Libya and Syria, Egyptians consider that their revolution has come at a reasonable cost: 850 people were killed, but the state has survived and the country’s infrastructure and production facilities have emerged intact.
Even so tourism, investment and consumer confidence have been hit badly. That is largely the story being told, and in particular by one company’s Q1 figures: Orascom Development.
Orascom Development (ODHN:SWX), a builder and operator of luxury resorts, listed in both Egypt and Switzerland, has just reported a net loss of $17.5m compared to a profit of 50.9 million a year earlier. Revenues fell by 62 percent.
Kuwait Budget Break Even Oil Price « Alpha Dinar- talking Gulf finance
As the markets are tanking, sending oil prices down due to fears that the US and other developed economies might face periods of slow economic growth (or a recession). Low oil prices raises a red flag in Kuwait, as concerns about the government budget start to rise.We did a simple “back of the napkin” calculation to get the price of oil that the Kuwaiti givernment budget breaks even.
We start with the expenditures. The budget forecasts an expenditure 0f KD 19.44 billion, or USD 71.45 billion. We subtract the non-oil revneus (electric bills, taxes, etc), which are forecasted to amount to KD 1.14 billion (or USD 4.18 billion), leaving us with USD 67.27 billion. We then add 10% of the needed oil revenues, as Kuwait allocates 10% of its oil revenues to the Future Generations Fund (managed by the KIA). The total oil revenue that Kuwait needs amasses to USD 74 billion. If we assume that Kuwait produces 2.5 million barrels per day, then the break even oil price would equal to $81.09, 20% below current prices.
So for the time being, the goverment budget will generate a surplus.
Saudi Arabia is Opec’s real winner - FT.com
Defeated; humiliated; overpowered… Saudi Arabia appeared to come out from the last meeting of the Opec oil cartel as the loser after it failed to get backing for its proposal to boost output, with its opponent Iran victorious.
Yet two months later Riyadh is proving that first impressions are often misleading. If someone was defeated, it clearly was Tehran.
Since the June 8 Opec meeting in Vienna, Saudi Arabia has boosted unilaterally its crude oil production, reaching la 30-year high of 9.8m barrels a day last month. At the same time, Iran’s own oil output has plunged to its lowest level in more than 8 and a half years at 3.5m b/d, according to fresh estimates by the International Energy Agency.
Yet two months later Riyadh is proving that first impressions are often misleading. If someone was defeated, it clearly was Tehran.
Since the June 8 Opec meeting in Vienna, Saudi Arabia has boosted unilaterally its crude oil production, reaching la 30-year high of 9.8m barrels a day last month. At the same time, Iran’s own oil output has plunged to its lowest level in more than 8 and a half years at 3.5m b/d, according to fresh estimates by the International Energy Agency.
Abu Dhabi fund Aabar considers write-down of $1.9 bln RHB deal-source - Maktoob News
Abu Dhabi fund Aabar is considering a write-down of its $1.9 billion purchase of a 25-percent stake in Malaysia's RHB Capital , a source said, after the deal's rich pricing helped scupper long-awaited consolidation in Malaysia's banking sector.
Aabar agreed to pay 10.80 ringgit per share in June for Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank's quarter stake in RHB, valuing Malaysia's fifth largest lender at around $7.2 billion, or 2.25 times its book value.
Malaysia's two largest banks, Maybank and CIMB Group , which had been planning a full takeover of RHB, subsequently pulled out of the deal citing the high price paid by Aabar.
Aabar agreed to pay 10.80 ringgit per share in June for Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank's quarter stake in RHB, valuing Malaysia's fifth largest lender at around $7.2 billion, or 2.25 times its book value.
Malaysia's two largest banks, Maybank and CIMB Group , which had been planning a full takeover of RHB, subsequently pulled out of the deal citing the high price paid by Aabar.
gulfnews : Negative watch on ratings of Emirates NBD removed
Fitch Ratings has affirmed Emirates NBD's (ENBD) long-term issuer default rating at ‘A+' and viability rating at ‘bbb'.
The rating agency has removed the bank's via-bility rating from rating watch negative and said it believes that there is high probability of support from the UAE authorities and Dubai to Emirates NBD.
Following the global financial crisis, liquidity support and term funding were provided by the UAE authorities to all banks in the system. In addition, the government of Dubai injected Dh4 billion of perpetual hybrid Tier 1 capital into Emirates NBD in June 2009 to provide further support to the bank's capital base.
The rating agency has removed the bank's via-bility rating from rating watch negative and said it believes that there is high probability of support from the UAE authorities and Dubai to Emirates NBD.
Following the global financial crisis, liquidity support and term funding were provided by the UAE authorities to all banks in the system. In addition, the government of Dubai injected Dh4 billion of perpetual hybrid Tier 1 capital into Emirates NBD in June 2009 to provide further support to the bank's capital base.
Punishing Iran merely glosses over real issues for US - The National
As the US president noted: 'Recent developments in Iran have exacerbated the threat to the national security posed by imports of petroleum … I take steps immediately to eliminate the dependence of the United States on Iran as a source of crude oil.'
Later, the president noted: 'The government of Iran is actively supporting terrorism as an instrument of state policy … I hereby order that: no goods or services of Iranian origin may be imported into the United States.'
The calls for more action over Iran's nuclear programme are again growing louder. But sanctions have a long and ineffective history. The two orders above were made not by Barack Obama, but by Jimmy Carter in 1979 and Ronald Reagan in 1987.
Later, the president noted: 'The government of Iran is actively supporting terrorism as an instrument of state policy … I hereby order that: no goods or services of Iranian origin may be imported into the United States.'
The calls for more action over Iran's nuclear programme are again growing louder. But sanctions have a long and ineffective history. The two orders above were made not by Barack Obama, but by Jimmy Carter in 1979 and Ronald Reagan in 1987.
MGM Resorts seeks OK to demolish Vegas hotel tower - DailyFinance
Casino company MGM Resorts International is seeking county approval to demolish the defective Harmon hotel tower on the Las Vegas Strip, concluding it's not worth the time, money or effort to salvage the building and open.
Responding to calls from county officials in Sin City to come up with a plan, the Las Vegas company said Monday it now wants to implode the stylish blue oval cylinder because structural defects prevent it from being used. A structural engineer said in a report last month that the building wouldn't hold up in a strong earthquake.
Plans submitted to the county call for the building to be imploded in six months, with four months of cleanup afterward including clearing dust from the Las Vegas Strip, an intersecting street and at least two Las Vegas casinos, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas next door and Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino across the street.
Responding to calls from county officials in Sin City to come up with a plan, the Las Vegas company said Monday it now wants to implode the stylish blue oval cylinder because structural defects prevent it from being used. A structural engineer said in a report last month that the building wouldn't hold up in a strong earthquake.
Plans submitted to the county call for the building to be imploded in six months, with four months of cleanup afterward including clearing dust from the Las Vegas Strip, an intersecting street and at least two Las Vegas casinos, the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas next door and Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino across the street.