News

Riyadh / Bloomberg A record 47,431 rooms and 124 hotel projects are currently under development in Saudi Arabia, according to a new report. The majority of projects are in the final construction and pre-opening stages with 52 projects and almost 20,000 rooms set to open to the public throughout the Kingdom this year, says the new report by TOPHOTELPROJECTS commissioned ...

London / Bloomberg Buy-to-let landlords are rushing to purchase U.K. homes ahead of an increase in the stamp-duty sales tax in April. The number of homes acquired by rental homeowners rose 71 percent in January from the same month a year earlier, according to data compiled by Countrywide Plc. the U.K.’s largest realtor. Landlords purchased 21 percent of all the ...

LAS VEGAS / Bloomberg At the onset of the millennium, house flippers—people who purchased imperfect homes, renovated them, and resold them at a profit mere months later—ran rampant in U.S. housing markets. When the market went bust, the flippers mostly went away, replaced by investors who bought distressed homes and rented them out. The practice of flipping homes has been ...

London / Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co., the world’s largest bank by market value, is close to a deal to lease an office building being constructed near the Bank of England in the City of London financial district, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. The 33 Central building ...

RIYADH / Bloomberg JODC’s core business of developing projects close to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, is no longer viable. Jabal Omar Development Company (JODC) is in financial trouble and that much is known from the company’s disclosures to the Saudi Stock Exchange earlier in 2016. It has swung to a loss and the company has been forced to negotiate ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates REIT delivered a strong financial and operating performance during 2015, consolidating its position as a leader in the UAE property asset management industry. By year end, the net asset value of the REIT stood at USD 469.6 million, an increase of 8.7% year-on-year. “We have continued to organically grow overall occupancy and leasing rates in ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Paperworld Middle East, the region’s largest trade fair for paper, office supplies, and stationery, is eyeing continued growth, as its launch partners lead the charge of returning exhibitors with high hopes for a big year in 2016. With more than 250 exhibitors from 42 countries expected this year, the sixth edition of the three-day event in ...

Sunaina Rana / EMIRATES BUSINESS As more and more women are catching up with the pace of the corporate world, QNET (QNet Ltd and QN Europe) continues to nurture the dreams of budding women entrepreneurs. It offers them one of the quickest, easiest and low risk formulas to set up their own business. The renowned Asian direct sales company supports ...

Dubai / Emirates Business The exclusive distributors of Toyota car in the Emirates, Al-Futtaim Motors have officially launched the fourth gen Toyota Prius. It is considered to be one of the most popular hybrid cars in the world. Toyota Prius was the world’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, when it was launched in 1997. Prius fourth generation’s first look was unveiled ...

Doha / WAM Qatar’s tourism and hospitality industry is building momentum as it enters the second half of the decade, with an ambitious target of four million visitors by 2020, supported by US$40-45 billion worth of sector investment under the country’s National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030 plan. The Gulf state returns to ATM this year to showcase its expanding hotel ...