EFG-Hermes and QInvest: what really happened?
When a big deal falls apart, finger-pointing is rarely far behind.
But in the case of the failed bid by Qatari government-backed QInvest to create a joint venture with Egyptian investment-bank EFG-Hermes, Egypt’s market regulator certainly has a thing or two to learn about tact. Continue reading »
Gulf: Ferrari card to go with your motor
In the oil-rich UAE, people like to spend, and people like to spend on cars. Your motor is everything: it has to be either fast and expensive or as big as a tank.
Taking that into account, First Gulf Bank – an Abu Dhabi bank – has launched the first Ferrari credit card alongside Visa to be offered in the Middle East and Africa. Continue reading »
Qtel’s rebranding: calling Dr Dre
It’s not everyday that a conservative Gulf state is accused of copying American rapper and entrepreneur Dr Dre.
But wealthy Qatar is making waves with a branding exercise that has kicked up a social media storm. Continue reading »
Saudi Arabia’s Sabic facing un-Saudi problems
Saudi Basic Industries Corp, Saudi Arabia’s biggest publicly-traded company, has a very non-Saudi problem: striking workers.
The Riyadh-based petrochemicals behemoth is facing the wrath of the labour unions – not at home in the kingdom where such groups are banned but at its Chemicals Geleen plant in the Netherlands. Continue reading »
Dubai is back? Time to borrow
Savvy as a market trader, Dubai knows when to strike bargain. With everyone mumbling that “Dubai is back” the government realised that now is the time to borrow.
So on Tuesday, the emirate sold $1.25bn in Islamic and conventional bonds, to appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers from the Middle East, Asia and beyond. Bankers said Dubai issued $750m of 10-year Islamic debt at 3.875 per cent and $500m of conventional 30-year notes at 5.375 per cent. Continue reading »
Gulf: gauging recovery in the absence of economic data
Sentiment is everything in the Gulf. Without reliable or regular economic data, it is a struggle to know which direction the wind is blowing.
The underdevelopment and lack of disclosure of public statistics explains in part why so few saw Dubai’s 2009 debt crisis coming. And now, as some Gulf economies appear to be pulling out of the economic crisis, there are still few concrete numbers to prove it. Many are relying on improved sentiment…on anecdotes here and there. Continue reading »
Qatar Airways muscles in on Barça
So, Qatar Airways will appear as the main logo on FC Barcelona’s shirts from next year, replacing the Qatar Foundation.
That means Doha’s state-run carrier will go head-to-head with Dubai’s Emirates, which sponsors Arsenal, and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad, which sponsors Manchester City, in yet another battle ground for regional aviation supremacy: football sponsorship. Continue reading »
Distressed debt in the Gulf – only for the risk-hungry
Distressed debt players who took a bet on bonds issued by Blue City of Oman should be cheered by a chance to get out.
The Gulf country’s sovereign wealth fund has offered to buy “class B” subordinated notes of the ailing real estate project – a $20bn beachside development that stalled as the financial crisis took a grip. Continue reading »
Abu Dhabi sets new debt rules [updated]
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi has quietly issued a new public debt policy to its state-linked companies as it tries to rein in boom-time borrowing and get an idea of what debt it is responsible for.
The most important articles of the policy are here, from documents seen and translated into English by beyondbrics. Continue reading »
Sabic: a bit better than expected
Some might say it was a good day for Saudi Basic Industries Corp, the world’s biggest petrochemicals maker.
When it announced on Wednesday that third quarter net profits fell 23 per cent from a year ago its share price in Saudi Arabia rose 1.4 per cent. Clearly, the numbers weren’t as bad as had been expected in the light of plunging world prices for petrochemicals. Continue reading »
New Islamic banks in Oman are bolstering their balance sheets to challenge the country’s larger conventional lenders after the sultanate allowed sharia-compliant lending for the first time last year.
This month, Al Izz Islamic bank, Oman’s second dedicated Islamic bank, opened subscription for its initial public offering of 40 per cent of the lender. So far, it says interest has been strong. Continue reading »
The Gulf banks, so long somewhat passive players in international markets, are flexing their muscles. As Camilla Hall reports for the FT, European banks’ retreat from far-flung territories, is creating new opportunities – and Qatar National Bank, the state-backed lender of Qatar, is among the institutions on the hunt, with a bid to buy control of Société Générale’s subsidiary in Egypt. Continue reading »
UAE debt case: Shahin takes flight
The extraordinary case of Zack Shahin, the ex-chief executive of Deyaar, a Dubai-based real estate company, took a dark turn this week after reports emerged that he had fled to Yemen whilst on bail and was re-arrested there.
“Shahin is still being detained by the security apparatus,” a Yemeni security source, who declined to be named, told Reuters on Sunday. “We expect that the man will be deported to the UAE before the end of the week.”
Shahin was caught up in a corruption investigation that swept across state-linked developers and financial companies before Dubai’s real estate boom imploded. He was released from prison on July 12 after three years of inconclusive trials. Continue reading »
1MDB of Malaysia’s $1.75bn bond: one puzzle wrapped up in another
The ingredients were always going to be interesting…
When 1MDB issued what has been touted as Asia’s biggest sole-led dollar-bond sale ex-Japan in May, it almost slipped under the radar. The issue was never meant to be made public but somehow it flicked up on bankers’ screens, sparking caustic commentary. Part of that, no doubt, was sour grapes. But some intriguing questions remain unanswered. Continue reading »
Saudi Telecom: suspension lifted but mystery remains
Some investors in the Saudi stock market breathed sigh of relief on Wednesday after the Capital Markets Authority lifted a suspension of trading on Saudi Integrated Telecom Company, known in Arabic as AlMutakamela.
The telecoms operator has been at the center of Riyadh market gossip for the past few months as bankers tried to piece together exactly why trading in its shares was halted on April 1, less than a year after its initial public offering. Continue reading »
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