Saudi Arabian construction company Mohammed al-Mojil Group on Saturday called for an emergency general meeting in November to discuss breaking up, saying its losses now exceeded three-quarters of its capital.
External auditors called in by the company also found its liabilities exceeded its assets, leaving shareholders with a deficit of 279.8 million rials ($74.6 million).
In a statement on the Saudi bourse website, MMG said its net losses after the second quarter came to 1.53 billion rials and its net liabilities exceeded its assets by 1.36 billion rials.
Saturday, 22 September 2012
Saudi Shares Retreat to Lowest Level in Month Before Earnings - Bloomberg
Shares in Saudi Arabia, the only Gulf Arab stock market open on Saturdays, fell to the lowest level in more than a month as investors awaited quarterly results and after oil had its biggest weekly decline in three months.
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world’s largest petrochemicals maker known as Sabic, dropped for the fifth day. Samba Financial Group (SAMBA), Saudi Arabia’s second-biggest listed bank by market value, lost 1.1 percent. The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) retreated 0.4 percent to 7,031.04, the lowest level since Aug. 15, at the close in Riyadh.
“Investors are waiting for third-quarter results,” Turki Fadaak, head of research at Albilad Investment Co. in Riyadh, said in a telephone interview today. “There are mixed views for the petrochemical sector.”
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world’s largest petrochemicals maker known as Sabic, dropped for the fifth day. Samba Financial Group (SAMBA), Saudi Arabia’s second-biggest listed bank by market value, lost 1.1 percent. The Tadawul All Share Index (SASEIDX) retreated 0.4 percent to 7,031.04, the lowest level since Aug. 15, at the close in Riyadh.
“Investors are waiting for third-quarter results,” Turki Fadaak, head of research at Albilad Investment Co. in Riyadh, said in a telephone interview today. “There are mixed views for the petrochemical sector.”
Qatar backs investment in major Egypt refinery - Businessweek
Qatar says it will make critical investments in a $3.7 billion oil refinery project in Egypt that's among the biggest economic initiatives since the 2011 fall of Hosni Mubarak.
Qatar's minister of energy and industry, Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, did not give the specific amount of the Qatar share, but previous reports from the wealthy Gulf state estimated at least a $400 million initial investment to help launch the long-stalled project.
Egypt's Oil Minister Usama Kamal said Saturday the refinery on the outskirts of Cairo will produce 4.2 million tons per year of gasoline, diesel and other energy products.
Qatar's minister of energy and industry, Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, did not give the specific amount of the Qatar share, but previous reports from the wealthy Gulf state estimated at least a $400 million initial investment to help launch the long-stalled project.
Egypt's Oil Minister Usama Kamal said Saturday the refinery on the outskirts of Cairo will produce 4.2 million tons per year of gasoline, diesel and other energy products.
Inflation carves a hole in expats income as families struggle | A1SaudiArabia.com
Due to inflation many expats in Saudi Arabia are struggling to survive and send money back home for their families.
Employees from Asia and Africa arrived in the country and expected a salary that seemed high to them as they were coming from extreme poverty. Soon after, they discovered they couldnt survive and support the families they left behind, due to the high rate of inflation. Expatriate wages in Saudi Arabia are usually based on the nationality of the workers. Those from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India can expect a salary between SR 800 and SR 2,000. Expatriates from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Palestine may get a wage of SR 5,000 to SR 8,000 if they are working in engineering, pharmacy, journalism or medicine. Those who dont have a bachelors degree work for between SR 800 to SR 2,500.
Employees from Asia and Africa arrived in the country and expected a salary that seemed high to them as they were coming from extreme poverty. Soon after, they discovered they couldnt survive and support the families they left behind, due to the high rate of inflation. Expatriate wages in Saudi Arabia are usually based on the nationality of the workers. Those from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India can expect a salary between SR 800 and SR 2,000. Expatriates from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Palestine may get a wage of SR 5,000 to SR 8,000 if they are working in engineering, pharmacy, journalism or medicine. Those who dont have a bachelors degree work for between SR 800 to SR 2,500.
Alarm rings over China slowdown risk for Gulf - The National
China's stalling economy poses a bigger risk to the prosperity of the GCC than the escalating debt crisis in Europe, economists and the IMF warn.
The alarm came as data released yesterday signalled China's manufacturing sector shrank this month for the 11th month running. Similar data indicated factory production in the euro zone fell deeper into recession territory during the month.
But it is the shaky performance of the world's second-largest economy, rather than the euro-zone turmoil, that could cause more harm to this region.
The alarm came as data released yesterday signalled China's manufacturing sector shrank this month for the 11th month running. Similar data indicated factory production in the euro zone fell deeper into recession territory during the month.
But it is the shaky performance of the world's second-largest economy, rather than the euro-zone turmoil, that could cause more harm to this region.
Global Islamic Finance set to double by 2015 | GulfNews.com
Global Islamic Finance is set to double in size between 2011 and 2015 with the sector increasingly viewed as a real alternative to conventional finance, according to Standard & Poor’s (S&P). The global prospects for the Islamic Finance industry will be the subject of a conference to be hosted by S&P in Dubai on Tuesday.
“The global crisis faced by conventional finance has led to Islamic Finance increasingly being viewed as a credible alternative. Issuers and investors have realised that the risk-reward balance in both conventional and Islamic Finance are not fundamentally different,” said Stuart Anderson, Managing Director & Regional Head, Middle East at Standard & Poor’s.
S&P expects the $1 trillion global Islamic Finance industry to grow 20 per cent over 2011-2015, doubling in size over the period.
“The global crisis faced by conventional finance has led to Islamic Finance increasingly being viewed as a credible alternative. Issuers and investors have realised that the risk-reward balance in both conventional and Islamic Finance are not fundamentally different,” said Stuart Anderson, Managing Director & Regional Head, Middle East at Standard & Poor’s.
S&P expects the $1 trillion global Islamic Finance industry to grow 20 per cent over 2011-2015, doubling in size over the period.
Kingdom Tower financing complete | GulfNews.com
Financing for the kilometre-high Kingdom Tower is complete, Talal Al Maiman, chief executive officer and managing director of Kingdom Real Estate Development Co., said in an interview in Shanghai on Friday.
The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah will eclipse today’s highest skyscraper — the 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai — when completed in 2018. The tower is expected to cost $1.2 billion to build, with construction expected to be concluded in about five- and-a-half years, the company has said.
“We have all the investors, all the finance, all the money we need,” Al Maiman said. “It took us beyond 20 months to convince investors, working every detail and aspect of financing.”
The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah will eclipse today’s highest skyscraper — the 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai — when completed in 2018. The tower is expected to cost $1.2 billion to build, with construction expected to be concluded in about five- and-a-half years, the company has said.
“We have all the investors, all the finance, all the money we need,” Al Maiman said. “It took us beyond 20 months to convince investors, working every detail and aspect of financing.”
Al Saris to buy back own tanker | GulfNews.com
The owners of FAL Oil Co., a UAE-based energy trader, were granted approval by a Singapore court to buy back one of the company’s tankers being held in the city state amid a debt dispute with DVB Bank SE.
Justice Lai Siu Chiu gave permission at a hearing on Friday for DVB to sell the Khorfakkan to UAE-based Horizon Energy, which is wholly owned by Gulf General Investment Co., the holding company of the Al Sari family that also runs FAL Oil. The $34.5 million sale will help repay a loan linked to FAL Oil’s purchase of the ship.
FAL, placed under US financial restrictions this year for its links to Iran, faces the forced sale of the tanker to repay $57.6 million (Dh211.8 billion) owed to DVB. Frankfurt-based DVB, which loaned $62.4 million to FAL in July 2010, sued the trader and sought the seizure of the Khorfakkan after telling the company it had defaulted. The credit financed that ship and the Al Buhaira, both Aframax tankers capable of transporting about 80,000 to 100,000 metric tonnes of oil.
Justice Lai Siu Chiu gave permission at a hearing on Friday for DVB to sell the Khorfakkan to UAE-based Horizon Energy, which is wholly owned by Gulf General Investment Co., the holding company of the Al Sari family that also runs FAL Oil. The $34.5 million sale will help repay a loan linked to FAL Oil’s purchase of the ship.
FAL, placed under US financial restrictions this year for its links to Iran, faces the forced sale of the tanker to repay $57.6 million (Dh211.8 billion) owed to DVB. Frankfurt-based DVB, which loaned $62.4 million to FAL in July 2010, sued the trader and sought the seizure of the Khorfakkan after telling the company it had defaulted. The credit financed that ship and the Al Buhaira, both Aframax tankers capable of transporting about 80,000 to 100,000 metric tonnes of oil.
Iran finds ways around sanctions to sell oil | GulfNews.com
To continue selling crude oil to India, Iran is accepting payment in rice, medicine, engineering supplies and steel.
To sell to China, its No. 1 customer, Iran is delivering the oil on its own tankers backed by state insurance, not on the commercial tankers used in the past.
To sell to China, its No. 1 customer, Iran is delivering the oil on its own tankers backed by state insurance, not on the commercial tankers used in the past.
“ That’s the idea if they can pull it off: to bring in enough of those foreign currencies or have transactions on the borders of the international financial systems.” ”