#Saudi Aramco tightens price guidance for 5- and 10-year bonds, says IFR | Reuters

Saudi Aramco tightens price guidance for 5- and 10-year bonds, says IFR | Reuters

Saudi Aramco (2223.SE), opens new tab, the state-owned oil company, has tightened the price guidance for its 5- and 10-year dollar bonds, according to a report by IFR on Wednesday.

The bond issuance could potentially raise up to $3 billion, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The price guidance for the 5-year bonds has been tightened to a range of 90 to 95 basis points over U.S. Treasuries and for the 10-year portion to a range of 105 to 110 bps over the same benchmark, said IFR.

Investec Opens #Dubai Office With Eye on South African, UK Expats - Bloomberg

Investec Opens Dubai Office With Eye on South African, UK Expats - Bloomberg

Investec Ltd., a bank that focuses on wealthy clients in South Africa and the UK, is opening an office in Dubai with an eye on its growing expatriate community.

The lender, which also has operations in the US, Europe and elsewhere, announced its Dubai expansion on Wednesday.

“We are seeing a lot of South Africans considering Dubai as an option to either work or permanently live,” Investec Bank Chief Executive Officer Cumesh Moodliar told Bloomberg in an interview. “Building off on that, we’ve seen family offices being quite active in that region as well as key financial institutions.”

The South African Business Council puts the number of South African-affiliated companies with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce at more than 2,400, according to South African Consul-General Tsepo Lebona. Investec also says that as many as 5,000 of its UK target-market expat clients live in Dubai.

The bank is counting on a Dubai presence to connect it with the many family offices based in the region, who Darryn Solomon, the senior executive officer for Investec in Dubai, said were handling anywhere between $700 billion and $1 trillion in wealth on behalf of their clients. Solomon said between 150,000 and 200,000 South Africans live in the United Arab Emirates.

Investec is also confident that it will be able to help guide Dubai-based investors interested in post-election opportunities in South Africa.

Business confidence has increased noticeably since President Cyril Ramaphosa formed a broad governing coalition following May 29 elections in which his African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994.

“The positive sentiment will start translating into greater and high levels of activity into South Africa,” Moodliar said. “We think that government is going to be strongly considering — particularly from an infrastructure and basic utilities perspective — the need for public-private partnerships. And our corporate and institutional business, and our energy and infrastructure businesses, are very well placed to play into that segment.”

Investec’s move follows international expansion by other South African lenders, with Absa Group Ltd. opening a non-banking unit in China and Standard Bank Group Ltd. targeting an office in Egypt by the end of the year.

#AbuDhabi’s Aldar Plans $408 Million Hotels Push to Woo Rich Tourists - Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Plans $408 Million Hotels Push to Woo Rich Tourists - Bloomberg

Abu Dhabi’s largest property developer will spend 1.5 billion dirhams ($408.4 million) to upgrade hotels it owns across the United Arab Emirates to capitalize on the growing demand for luxury tourism.

Aldar Properties PJSC will refurbish some existing properties within its hotel portfolio while expanding others, the company said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

It’ll also bring Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.’s Waldorf Astoria and InterContinental Hotels Group Plc’s Vignette Collection to manage hotels in the city for the first time.

Abu Dhabi has a $10 billion plan to boost tourism and cultural activity in the emirate, which includes a Guggenheim museum that’s set to be about 12 times the size of its New York counterpart. It’s also opened a new airport, theme parks including Sea World and has been constructing luxury homes and resorts to cater to tourists and residents.

Abu Dhabi aims to increase the number of visitors to over 39 million by 2030 from 24 million in 2023 as it intensifies its competition with neighboring Dubai for rich tourists.

Aldar, which is partly owned by the Abu Dhabi government, is also planning to renovate a couple of hotels in Ras Al Khaimah, where Wynn Resorts Ltd. is planning the UAE’s first gaming resort.

#UAE c.bank sees 4% GDP growth in 2024, state news agency reports | Reuters

UAE c.bank sees 4% GDP growth in 2024, state news agency reports | Reuters

The United Arab Emirates central bank raised its forecast for 2024 GDP growth to 4% from a previous forecast of 3.9%, citing improvement in the oil sector's performance, the state news agency (WAM) reported on Wednesday.

The central bank also saw 2025 GDP growth at 6% in 2025, WAM added.

Shareholder to decide on IPO, Etihad Airways CEO says | Reuters

Shareholder to decide on IPO, Etihad Airways CEO says | Reuters

A decision on an IPO is for the shareholder ADQ to make, the CEO of Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways, Antonoaldo Neves, said on Wednesday.

The airline has been working hard to be ready for an IPO should its shareholder ADQ decide to list the shares, he added.

Most Gulf markets extend gains on rate cuts; regional tensions weigh | Reuters

Most Gulf markets extend gains on rate cuts; regional tensions weigh | Reuters

Most stock markets in the Gulf ended higher on Wednesday, building on gains led by interest rate cuts last week enacted by regional central banks, although geopolitical tensions weighed on investor sentiment.

Last week, most Gulf central banks cut their key interest rates after the U.S. Federal Reserve decreased rates by half a percentage point citing "greater confidence" on inflation.

The Fed projected a further half-point rate cut by the year-end, a full point next year and a half-point trim in 2026.

Monetary policy in the Gulf Cooperation Council often aligns with the Fed's decisions as most regional currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab gained 0.6%, with aluminium products manufacturer Al Taiseer Group (4143.SE), opens new tab rising 3.2%.

Among other gainers, oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab was up 0.7%.

Dubai's main share index (.DFMGI), opens new tab advanced 0.6%, led by a 2.2% rise in top lender Emirates NBD (ENBD.DU), opens new tab.

In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI), opens new tab closed 0.6% higher, driven by a 0.5% rise in telecoms group e& (EAND.AD), opens new tab after the EU Commission approved the firm's bid for parts of Czech telecom company PPF under certain conditions.

The deal will see e& acquire the sole control of PPF Telecom excluding its local business in the Czech Republic.

The Qatari benchmark (.QSI), opens new tab concluded 0.5% higher, with Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA), opens new tab gaining 1.3%.

An Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Tuesday as cross-border rocket attacks by both sides increased fears of a full-fledged war in the Middle East.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab rose 1.2% higher, buoyed by a 2.5% increase in Talaat Mostafa Holding (TMGH.CA), opens new tab.