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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 ...

Bloomberg Private air travel is getting the Uber treatment with some of the industry’s biggest customers investing $26.1 million in a company that lets users book private jets from a smartphone. Most private aircraft aren’t used that much, JetSmarter founder Sergey Petrossov, a Russia-born Florida resident, said in an interview. They either stand idled at airports or are flying empty ...

Bloomberg Domodedovo International Airport bonds pared the steepest drop on record after chairman and owner Dmitry Kamenshchik was put under house arrest instead of jail and a prosecutor said the charges against the businessman are unlawful. The bonds fell the most on record recently and the yield surged 294 basis points to 9.38 percent, the highest since March, after investigators ...