Former CEO wins lawsuit against Nakheel, awarded $3 million
Thursday, 09 February 2012
Nakheel’s former chief executive won a lawsuit for breach of contract against the indebted developer on Thursday and was awarded $3 million in damages by a Dubai court. Chris O’Donnell, who left Nakheel last June after five years as chief executive, had sued the developer for $3.7 million in lost incentives, entitlement ... Read More
U.S. firm CH2M Hill wins key Qatar World Cup contract
Thursday, 09 February 2012
U.S. firm CH2M Hill Inc. has won Qatar’s World Cup program management contract and will oversee the construction of sports facilities in the Gulf Arab state, slated to host the tournament in 2022. The Colorado-based engineering and construction firm beat bids from five other multinational companies, Qatar's 2022 Supreme ... Read More
Etihad airways in black in 2011, first-ever net profit
Thursday, 09 February 2012
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways on Thursday posted a net profit of $14 million for 2011, exceeding its goal of breaking even for the first time ever, a statement said. The national carrier of the United Arab Emirates said its revenues were up 36 percent in 2011 to $4.1 billion, with net profit touching $14 ... Read More
Oil inks 20-year deal with Aramco to secure oil supplies
Thursday, 09 February 2012
South Korea’s third largest refiner signed a rare 20-year deal to buy oil from Saudi Arabia as Asia’s crude consumers come under U.S. pressure to reduce imports from sanctions-hit Iran. S-Oil, 35 percent owned by Saudi Aramco, said on Thursday the contract with its biggest shareholder was the first long-term commitment of ... Read More
Commercial Bank of Qatar signs $455 million loan
Thursday, 09 February 2012
Commercial Bank of Qatar signed a $455 million term loan with a club of seven regional and international banks, it said in a statement to Qatar’s bourse on Thursday. The cash will be used for general corporate purposes, the bank said. It gave no further details on the loan, such as tenor or pricing. National Bank of Abu ... Read More
Saudi pledges secure energy supply to South Korea
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
Saudi Arabia has pledged to ensure a stable supply of oil to South Korea, which is under pressure from the United States to reduce purchases from Iran, a report said on Wednesday. The assurances came as South Korea’s President Lee Myung-Bak held talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday with Saudi Oil Minister Ali ... Read More
UAE to pump more crude to Asia to cut reliance on Iran
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
The United Arab Emirates’ main exporter of crude oil will fulfill all supply contracts to Asia for March, for the first time in almost a year, to help the region’s top buyers cut their dependence on oil from sanctions-hit Iran. Asia consumes more than half of Iran’s exports of 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) but China, ... Read More
Political instability in Maldives triggers fears for vital tourism industry
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
Political instability and unrest in the Maldives have raised fears for the islands’ vital tourism industry which caters to high-end travellers and honeymooning couples. The archipelago nation, made up of 1,192 coral and sand-fringed islands dotted with luxury resorts, depends on tourism for a third of its gross ... Read More
Malaysian exporters halt palm oil supply to Iran
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
Malaysian palm oil exporters have stopped supplying most of the 30,000 tons of the food staple Iran used to buy each month from the Southeast Asian producer as fresh Western financial curbs on Tehran stymie payment procedures, two trading sources said. The halt in Malaysia’s palm oil exports, which the traders said ... Read More
Israel general strike shuts airports, ports, banks and stock market
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
Israel’s main labor union declared a strike on Wednesday that shut airports, ports, banks and the stock market after talks with the government failed to produce an agreement on the status of workers employed through labor contractors. The Histadrut labour federation, the umbrella organization for hundreds of thousands ... Read More
Egypt foreign reserves fall, add to pressure on pound
Tuesday, 07 February 2012
The drain on Egypt’s foreign reserves showed little sign of abating in January, adding to pressure on the government to let its currency slide after a year of political turmoil in which the currency has remained almost steady against the dollar. The Egyptian pound has lost only around 1 percent of its value against the ... Read More
UAE to open doors for Gulf business firms
Tuesday, 07 February 2012
The United Arab Emirates is to allow firms owned by nationals from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to operate on its own shores and receive similar privileges to national firms, according to a decision taken by the cabinet. The new directions came at the request of UAE vice president and prime minister Sheikh Mohammad ... Read More
Commercial traffic on Shatt al-Arab resumes after 31 years with opening of Shell port
Tuesday, 07 February 2012
Commercial traffic has resumed on the strategic Shatt al-Arab waterway after 31 years, with the official opening of a port for oil giant Shell, an Iraqi official said on Tuesday. Part of the 200 kilometer (120 mile) long waterway forms a section of the border with Iran. An unresolved boundary dispute was a ... Read More
UBS warns of poor Q1 after investment bank loss
Tuesday, 07 February 2012
Swiss bank UBS posted a loss at its investment bank and warned that the unit’s poor performance would also affect first-quarter results as the euro zone debt crisis and worries about the health of the U.S. economy hurt business. “Traditional improvements in first-quarter activity levels and trading volumes may fail to ... Read More
Prices rise, patience thins in sanctions-hit Iran
Tuesday, 07 February 2012
A simple trip to the store in Iran these days offers a crash course in life under Western economic sanctions. The prices of many imported goods - from South Korean refrigerators to Turkish crackers - can be double from last year. The money to buy them, meanwhile, has plunged in value against the U.S. dollar and ... Read More
Firm claims Apple infringing trademark in China
Tuesday, 07 February 2012
A Taiwan-linked company which claims ownership of the iPad trademark in China has filed lawsuits and lodged complaints against Apple for infringement, a lawyer said Tuesday. Apple lost a legal battle against Proview Technology (Shenzhen) last year after a Chinese court ruled the U.S. company lacked evidence in ... Read More
Internet giants remove content after India court warning
Monday, 06 February 2012
Internet giants Google Inc. and Facebook removed content from some Indian domain websites on Monday following a court directive warning them of a crackdown “like China” if they did not take steps to protect religious sensibilities. The two are among 21 companies asked to develop a mechanism to block objectionable material ... Read More
South Sudan inflation eases to 47.8 percent in January
Monday, 06 February 2012
South Sudan’s annual inflation rate eased to 47.8 percent in January from 65.6 percent in December as costs for some food items fell, official data showed on Monday. South Sudan became independent on July 9 under a 2005 peace agreement with its former civil war foe, Khartoum, but has been struggling to tackle an economic ... Read More
Oil expected to stay below $115 a barrel barring surprises, Kuwait says
Monday, 06 February 2012
Oil prices are expected to stay between $100 and $115 a barrel until mid-year, barring “surprises and geopolitical changes,” Kuwait’s Oil Minister Mohammad al-Basseri said on Monday. “Oil prices are not expected to slide below $100 a barrel or go above $115,” throughout the first six months of 2012, “barring ... Read More
Qatar bourse says foreign stake onus on companies
Monday, 06 February 2012
Qatar’s bourse has done all it needs to secure an upgrade to emerging market status from index compiler MSCI and the onus is now on individual companies to address the main foreign ownership limit issue, its top executive said. Andre Went also told Reuters in an interview that the exchange, home to the best-performing ... Read More