Bloomberg UK retail sales fell the most in seven months in October, indicating continued caution among consumers just before the crucial Christmas shopping season. The British Retail Consortium said sales fell 1 percent on a like-for-like basis and were up just 0.2 percent in total terms. In a separate report, Barclaycard said annual growth in household spending slowed to 2.4 ...

Bloomberg Etsy Inc. kept its word to investors and eked out a small boost in its growth rate by luring more shoppers and getting them to spend more on its site for unique, small-batch goods. Gross merchandise sales, the total value of goods that pass through Etsy’s platforms, grew 13 percent to $766.4 million in the third quarter—bigger than the ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced the successful issuance and closing of a $3 billion bond, one of the largest non-sovereign bond offerings in the history of the Middle East. The bond, issued by ADCOP, an entity 100 percent owned by the ADNOC Group, highlights the more proactive and flexible management of ADNOC’s portfolio ...

Dubai / Reuters DP World extended its reach into Somaliland on Monday, announcing that it would develop an economic zone in the breakaway Somali region. The chairman of the Dubai state-owned port operator, Sultan bin Sulayem, and Somaliland’s foreign minister Saad Ali Shire signed the agreement in Dubai on Monday to develop the Berbera Free Zone, DP World said in ...

RAS AL KHAIMAH / WAM RAK Ceramics announced its results for the third quarter ended on September 30. Core revenues increased 14.1 percent year-on-year (YoY) to AED643.6 million, driven by strong growth in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India and Bangladesh. Total revenue grew to AED705.2 million, an increase of 9.2 percent compared to Q3 2016. Core revenue contribution represented an ...

Ras Al Khaimah / WAM HH Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras al-Khaimah, emphasised that Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah wants to build an integrated commercial infrastructure that will attract investors and businessmen from all over the world. He made his remarks at the signing of a 25-year concession agreement between Saqr Port and ...

Bloomberg The world’s biggest photovoltaic (PV) solar plant is set to start operating by April 2019, a managing director of China’s Jinko Solar Holding Co. said. The 1.2-gigawatt project in Abu Dhabi is “well on track and on schedule,” Mothana Qteishat, Jinko Solar’s managing director for project development in the Middle East and North Africa, said at the Routes to ...

Dubai / WAM The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), will showcase the power of nations working together when it hosts its own pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, the first World Expo to be held in the region. Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Secretary-General of the Council, on Monday signed an official participation contract with Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashimy, Minister ...

Dubai / WAM Emirates Transport (ET), on Monday launched the final phase of testing for the first battery electric school bus in the region. The 45-seater bus has been manufactured in close cooperation with the Shanghai Sunwin Bus Cooperation, in one of the first projects of its kind worldwide. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Mohammed Abdullah Al Jarman, General Manager ...

Dubai / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said that peace, tolerance and collaboration have defined the path adopted by the UAE right from its foundation by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. “Following the path set by the late Sheikh Zayed, our ...