Tuesday 14 November 2023

#UAE's ADNOC Gas Q3 profit slips 4% on lower prices | Reuters

UAE's ADNOC Gas Q3 profit slips 4% on lower prices | Reuters

State oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company's gas unit, ADNOC Gas, said on Tuesday its third-quarter net profit fell 4% from the corresponding period a year earlier, as lower prices were partly offset by higher volumes.

ADNOC Gas (ADNOCGAS.AD) reported $1.116 billion in net profit in the quarter ending Sept. 30. That beat three analysts' mean estimate of $1.099 billion, according to LSEG data.

Revenue dropped 12% in the third quarter to $5.8 billion from the previous year.

Revenue was hit by "a less favourable pricing environment" but feedstock cost declined 11% to $3.466 billion, "benefiting from the Gas Supply and Payment Agreement (GSPA) with ADNOC Upstream," ADNOC Gas said.

ADNOC Gas "expects to gradually increase leverage to fund growth capex requirements," it said in a results presentation.

Capital expenditure rose 80% year-on-year in the third quarter to $347 million, driven by growth projects including one to supply higher volumes of natural gas to customers in the Northern Emirates of the UAE and another to maximize ethane recovery.

#Oman eyes at least $20bln investment from 2nd round of green hydrogen auctions

Oman eyes at least $20bln investment from 2nd round of green hydrogen auctions

After the successful first round of auctions, which resulted in a total of five project awards worth more than $30bn, Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom) is now expecting to attract between $20bn-$30bn worth of investments through the second round of auctions for large-scale green hydrogen projects in the sultanate.

The first round of public auctions was launched late last year, and the agreements were signed in June 2023 with major international consortia and companies that will establish large-scale green hydrogen and ammonia projects in the sultanate.

In the second round of public auctions, which has already been launched, Hydrom plans to award three land blocks in the Dhofar region by the end of the first quarter of 2024.

“The expected investments in the green hydrogen sector in Oman until 2050 are estimated at $140bn. In the first round of public auctions, the presupposed cost of investments amounted to about $30bn. And in the second round, we look up for investments at a volume of $20bn-$30bn,” said Eng Abdulaziz al Shidhani, managing director of Hydrom, in an interview published in the latest edition of Duqm Economist magazine.

“The public auctions help achieve transparency on the one hand and attract serious investors who have the financial solvency to implement such projects on the other hand,” he added.

Hydrom focused on the Duqm region in the first round of public auctions and is now concentrating on Dhofar in the second round, through three opportunities offered to companies specialising in the green hydrogen sector.

Saudia pushes for order of 150-plus planes | Reuters

Saudia pushes for order of 150-plus planes | Reuters

Saudia Group, which owns the Saudia airline and budget carrier flyadeal, is close to agreement on an order for 100 narrow-body jets but wants the manufacturer to agree to supply an additional 50-plus, it said on Tuesday.

Abdullah Al Shahrani, the group's general manager of communications and media affairs, declined to identify the aircraft manufacturer but said that supply chain issues were part of the reason it had not agreed to more than 100 jets.

"We insist on having more than 150," Al Shahrani said in an interview at the Dubai Airshow. "We are waiting for confirmation from the manufacturer that they are able to produce more than 150."

Saudia Group plans to announce the order before the end of the year, Al Shahrani said, adding that the aircraft would be for its Saudia airline and low-cost carrier flyadeal.

Both airlines use planes from the Airbus A320 family of aircraft. Flyadeal decided against going ahead with a commitment to purchase Boeing 737 MAX jets in 2019.

Most Gulf markets in red ahead of US inflation data | Reuters

Most Gulf markets in red ahead of US inflation data | Reuters


Most stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Tuesday, ahead of U.S. inflation data later in the session, which could provide an indication of whether global interest rates might start to fall.

Monetary policy in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is usually guided by Fed decisions as most regional currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other policymakers have said they are still not sure that interest rates are high enough to tame inflation.

Dubai's main share index (.TASI) eased 0.2%, hit by a 2.3% fall in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties (EMAR.DU).

In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI) fell 0.1%.

The Abu Dhabi bourse remained in an uncertain direction and traded sideways for almost a week now. The main index stabilized after a rebound at the beginning of the month, said Muhannad Al-Teneiji, Founder of Wealth Training Center and the company Matrix for AI Applications.

"While ADNOC Drilling announced strong earnings, its impact on the larger market remained limited but could help improve sentiment."

ADNOC Drilling (ADNOCDRILL.AD) finished 1.7% higher, after posting a sharp rise in third-quarter earnings.

The Qatari benchmark (.QSI) dropped 0.2%, with the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA) losing 1.8%.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), however, gained 0.6%, with Elm Co (7203.SE) rising 2.4% and oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) closing 0.5% higher.

Oil prices, often a catalyst for Gulf financial markets, edged higher after the International Energy Agency (IEA) raised its demand growth forecasts, adding to bullish sentiment from the previous day's OPEC guidance.

The IEA raised its oil demand growth forecasts for this year and next despite an expected slowdown in economic growth in nearly all major economies.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) lost 0.2%.

#Dubai Air Show: Emirates Not Ordering With Airbus Until Engine Issues Are Fixed - Bloomberg

Dubai Air Show: Emirates Not Ordering With Airbus Until Engine Issues Are Fixed - Bloomberg

Emirates President Tim Clark dashed Airbus SE’s hopes of pulling in a large order at the Dubai Air Show, saying he’s not buying more of their flagship A350-1000 until engine performance issues have been fixed.

Clark said the engine on the aircraft, built exclusively by Rolls Royce Holdings Plc, doesn’t meet the requirements in terms of time on the wing until the next maintenance cycle. Emirates would be in the market for 35 to 50 of the A350, Clark said, in what would add to an existing order book of 50 units of the smaller -900 widebody variant.

“If they can do that at a maintenance cost per hour that’s alright for us,” then Emirates would order the aircraft, Clark said in a meeting with journalists at the Dubai Air Show. “But it’s not doing that at the moment.”

Airbus had sought to follow Boeing Co.’s success, after the US company won a huge order valued at $52 billion with Emirates on Monday. The European company is the biggest supplier of the A380 super-jumbo aircraft for Emirates, though that plane is no longer in production and Emirates is currently rebuilding its fleet with new orders to factor in the switch.

Middle East asset manager Investcorp eyes up to $550 mln in first China yuan fund | Reuters

Middle East asset manager Investcorp eyes up to $550 mln in first China yuan fund | Reuters

Bahrain-based alternative asset manager Investcorp is aiming to raise 2 billion to 4 billion yuan ($274 million-$548 million) for its first private equity fund in the Chinese currency, its executive said, to explore buyout opportunities in the country.

Investcorp plans to apply in the next few months for a license with Chinese regulatory bodies that will allow it to start raising funds from domestic institutions next year, Investcorp's co-chief executive officer Hazem Ben-Gacem said.

"I hope over time, we will be more than just a Middle East investor in China. I want us to be perceived also as a local Chinese investor," Ben-Gacem told Reuters, adding that the final fundraising size will depend on investor appetite and market conditions.

Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala holds a 20% stake in Investcorp.

Investcorp's China fundraising plan comes as business ties between the Middle East and the world's second-largest economy pick up amid the Gulf states' infrastructure, technology and financial push, and Sino-U.S. geopolitical tensions.