LONDON, AUSTIN and DUBAI Emirates Business In its efforts to continue pioneering innovative banking solutions, UAE’s leading financial institution, Mashreq, announced that it is working with Blue Prism to increase productivity, improve customer experiences and deliver new services. Mashreq selected Blue Prism’s secure, scalable and easy-to-use Digital Workforce to deliver greater operational efficiencies, higher accuracy and a massive reduction in ...
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Libya oil field halt slows exports, sending crude prices higher
Bloomberg Libya’s oil exports from the Mellitah terminal will be “modified†after protests disrupted production at the key El-Feel deposit for the first time in two months, putting the OPEC nation’s crude production at risk of a decline again. Crude loadings at Mellitah, the export terminal for El-Feel, will be “modified†after force majeure was declared on deliveries from the ...
Read More »No relief in sight for gasoline guzzlers filling up on premium
Bloomberg The priciest US gasoline may only be getting pricier. Since March 2017, filling up your car’s 20-gallon (75-liter) gasoline tank with premium has cost at least $10 more than if you’d pumped regular. The widening spread has been driven by additional demand for the fuel and by tightened air rules that have reduced supply. Those conditions are probably going ...
Read More »Bahrain’s Alba on track to complete debt financing for smelter expansion
MANAMA / Reuters Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) , owner of one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters, will raise by the end of this year’s first quarter the final debt amount needed to fund its Line 6 expansion project, a company official told Reuters. With Line 6, Alba will become the world’s largest single aluminium smelter complex, increasing production capacity by ...
Read More »Chesapeake surges as CEO keeps focus on cuts
Bloomberg Chesapeake Energy Corp. shares jumped the most in almost two years, putting it on top of the S&P 500, after the shale explorer pledged to continue its push to cut spending and sell more assets in the year ahead. Chesapeake raised $1.3 billion last year from asset sales and has fired thousands of employees to cope with a burdened ...
Read More »China seizes Anbang, charges dealmaking founder with fraud
Bloomberg China’s government seized temporary control of Anbang Insurance Group Co. and will prosecute founder Wu Xiaohui for alleged fraud, cementing the downfall of a politically connected dealmaker whose aggressive global expansion came to symbolise the financial overreach of China’s debt-laden conglomerates. The surprise move furthers President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption and de-leveraging campaigns while providing a government backstop for the ...
Read More »Thailand’s $3.2 billion future fund delayed by spat over costs
Bloomberg Thailand’s planned 100 billion baht ($3.2 billion) infrastructure fund is embroiled in a court dispute over costs, threatening to further delay its listing. A labour union claims it would be cheaper to use borrowings by Expressway Authority of Thailand, a state entity, to pay for road projects due to be financed via the Future Fund, according to Ekniti Nitithanprapas, ...
Read More »Oasis boss bets on Japan’s game scene
Bloomberg Competitive gaming in Japan has found a champion: hedge fund boss Seth Fischer. The chief investment officer of Hong Kong-based Oasis Management Co., which owns more than $1 billion in Japanese securities, said esports is now among his top five investment themes for Japan. He has started buying stocks of game publishers like Capcom Co. and Square Enix Holdings ...
Read More »Luxury-car ranks upended as Genesis tops Germany’s stalwarts
Bloomberg In the pantheon of luxury carmakers, Hyundai Motor Co. doesn’t usually come to mind. But the Korean company’s Genesis line beat out German rivals to be named 2018’s best car brand in the US by Consumer Reports. In its debut year, Hyundai’s luxury line bumped Volkswagen AG’s Audi from top billing to the No. 2 spot, with premium mainstays ...
Read More »Nafta negotiators dig in for long haul as talks resume in Mexico
Bloomberg It’s looking increasingly likely Nafta talks will extend beyond a March target, meaning negotiators will have to deal with the added political uncertainty of a Mexican election campaign. Thorny issues such as content rules for cars remain unsolved as negotiators met on Sunday through March 5 in Mexico City for the seventh round of talks. When negotiations began six ...
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