News

Bloomberg Egypt’s central bank will consider floating the country’s currency when foreign reserves are almost double their current level, the bank’s governor said in a televised interview. Tarek Amer’s comments on al-Qahira Wel-Nas were his clearest signal yet that the central bank has no intention of devaluing the Egyptian pound at present, despite growing analyst predictions that such a move ...

Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China should have explained the change in its reporting of foreign-exchange holdings to avoid market speculation on its motives, according to Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd. “The PBOC changed the category of the position of forex purchases in its monthly report in January,” a move that “immediately raised market concerns about possible concealment or manipulation of ...

London / AFP Global banking giant HSBC announced on Monday its results for 2015 which fell below analysts’ expectations after what it called “seismic shifts” in the world economy. The bank said net profit dropped 1.2 percent to $13.52 billion from the previous year. Group chairman Douglas Flint described the performance as “broadly satisfactory” in a statement, although the bank’s ...

Bloomberg Wheelock Properties Ltd. sold a luxury home in Hong Kong’s exclusive Peak neighbourhood to an unidentified buyer for a lower-than-expected price tag of HK$830 million ($107 million). While it took Wheelock just three hours to sell the home, the transaction works out to HK$87,784 per square foot, more than 25 percent lower than estimates by some analysts. The sale ...

Bloomberg Home Retail Group Plcshares rose in early trading after a takeover of the Argos stores owner turned into a 1.4 billion-pound ($2 billion) contest. Steinhoff International Holdings Ltd., the owner of Conforama furniture stores in France and Bensons Beds in the U.K., said late Friday it plans to make a 175 pence-a-share cash offer for the British retailer, topping ...

Barcelona / Bloomberg The Majestic, a luxury hotel in downtown Barcelona, is bumping up room prices by two thirds as delegates including Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg troop into Spain’s second city for the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC). “This is the biggest week of the year for hoteliers,” said Santiago Martin, communications manager for the Majestic Hotel Group. The ...

Dubai / Emirates Business According to the latest Chestertons MENA Observer report, the rentals in majority of the apartments sector across prime areas in Dubai didn’t witness any change in Q4 of 2015. However, locations such as Jumeirah Park, Islands and Golf Estates observed a slight rental decrease of 3%, 2% and 2% respectively. Villa segment also saw a decrease ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) announced its local and global growth strategy at the Group’s 2016 Annual Performance Meeting. His Excellency Saif Al Falasi, ENOC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, explained that the company’s strong integrated business model will enable it to withstand the challenges associated with the ongoing oil price volatility. Despite the difficult macroeconomic situation, ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business This week, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) hosted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant site in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi. The visit served as an important opportunity for the Director General to observe the significant progress being made at Barakah, which is ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Gulfood – the world’s largest annual food and hospitality trade show – has broken a Guinness World Record for the globe’s heaviest bag of rice. KRBL Limited, the world’s largest rice millers and Basmati rice exporters, has successfully entered the Guinness record books with a bag of rice from its acclaimed India Gate Classic Basmati Rice ...