Bloomberg Marks & Spencer Group Plc (M&S) reported its best clothing sales in more than five years, delivering a confidence boost to the embattled British retailer after a tumultuous year marred by management overhauls, store closures and plunging shares. Same-store sales in its clothing and home division rose 2.3 percent in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, the London-based ...

  Bloomberg Turkey’s central bank is taking more steps to prop up a tumbling currency by forcing banks to borrow at a higher rate, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The lira surged against the dollar. The central bank didn’t offer any funding to local lenders at 8 percent through the one-week repo auction on Thursday, with ...

  Bloomberg National Bank of Oman (NBO), the sultanate’s third-largest lender by assets, posted on Thursday a 19.9 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, according to Reuters calculations. The lender made a profit of 13.68 million rials ($35.5 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, Reuters calculated based on previous financial statements in lieu of a quarterly breakdown. This ...

  Bloomberg Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA is set to become Italy’s biggest nationalized bank since the 1930s after its failure to raise funds on the market set a state rescue in motion. Talks are underway between the Italian Treasury and the lender on developing a new business plan. The European Central Bank directed Monte Paschi to raise ...

  Emirates Business VMware, Inc., a global leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility, announced that Al-Mawarid Bank is deploying VMware NSX network virtualization to improve security and application continuity, accelerate product innovation through IT automation, and meet stringent regulatory compliance requirements. Al-Mawarid Bank is a fast-growing, Lebanese bank that invests in the latest technologies to stay ahead of the ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), attended the official opening of the Amman Development Road. The road network connects the capital with the surrounding cities, easing the movement of passengers and goods between Jordan and the countries of the GCC region. In line with the framework of the ...

  DUBAI / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi Ports’ IBTIKAR programme (Arabic for innovation), has been awarded the Gold level accreditation by ideasUK, one of the most prominent associations for the promotion of employee involvement programmes in the UK and beyond. The announcement took place at the annual ideasUK conference held in London lately. Since inception in December 2013, the IBTIKAR ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Don Pramudwinai received on Wednesday the UAE’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation for Political Affairs Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Jarman and the delegation accompanying him. The Ministers discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance them, as well as topics of mutual interest. Al Jarman stressed the importance ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) announced a sponsorship agreement between IDEX LLC and leading national and specialty defence companies including Emirates Defence Industries Company (EDIC), Tawazun Holding and Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB). The agreement endorsed EDIC as the strategic partner and Tawazun Holding as the principle partner for IDEX 2017 and named ...

  Dubai / WAM “The UAE has paved its way into the future and has built a generation of innovative and excellent achievers and leaders who deserve to be celebrated,” said Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as he attended the Mohammed bin Rashid Government Excellence Award ...