Reuters Petrochemicals giant Sabic is scouting for more overseas ventures to ease its dependence on domestic Saudi Arabian natural gas as it pushes ahead with its largest foreign investment with U.S. partner Exxon Mobil. “We do have projects that we evaluate with our existing partners or potential partners… We are a global company, we have the capability to start …
Read More »Bloomberg Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA settled four lawsuits brought by investors including Pacific Investment Management Co. after the nation’s biggest-ever corruption case torpedoed the company’s market value. Petrobras’ board approved agreements with Pimco Total Return Fund, Janus Overseas Fund, Dodge & Cox International Stock Fund and Al Shams Investments, according to a statement filed with Brazil’s …
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Emirates Business Preferred Hotels & Resorts, the world’s largest global provider of sales, marketing and distribution services to independent luxury hotels, continues to expand its Middle East portfolio with the addition of two new five-star hotels in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and another five-star hotel in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The three additions consist of a duo of …
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Reuters Borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbour has rarely been so contentious in Egypt. At supermarkets across the country sugar has all but vanished, prompting media talk of a crisis and pushing the state to rapidly increase imports despite an acute dollar shortage and soaring global prices of the sweetener. Egypt consumes around 3 million tonnes of …
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Reuters Western insurers are slowly reaching deals with Iran as they seek to re-enter a multi-billion dollar market although the pace of business is hampered by banking restrictions ten months on from the lifting of international sanctions. Shut out of international financial markets for years, Iran is still trying to reap the benefits of last year’s nuclear deal with …
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Bloomberg Qatar is considering investing in the $100 billion global technology fund formed by SoftBank Group Corp. and Saudi Arabia, according to people familiar with the matter. SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son has visited Doha and other parts of the Gulf region in recent months to discuss investments with global investors, one of the people said, asking not to be …
Read More »DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s two biggest telecom operators reported weaker third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, as the cost of implementing a government initiative to register fingerprints with phone numbers weighed on both providers. A 7.5 percent drop in profit at market leader Saudi Telecom Co’s (STC) represented a continuation of an earnings slump which has now seen it report …
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Reuters Egypt’s economy is likely to grow 3.5 percent in the 2016/17 fiscal year, missing the government’s target of around 5 percent and falling below last year’s growth rate, a Reuters poll showed. The poll, which surveyed 17 analysts, found growth would pick up only slightly to reach 3.7 percent the following fiscal year. Egypt has been struggling to …
Read More »Bloomberg Saudi Arabia is repaying debts to contractors after long delays that squeezed company finances and hurt investor sentiment. Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said in a televised interview on MBC Wednesday that payments have been “regularized and will rise in the coming period.†While he didn’t offer details, three people familiar with the matter said the government has started …
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RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) has combined its chemicals and polymers businesses and will spin off its steel unit as part of its restructuring efforts to counter the depressed oil market and weak product prices. Chief Executive Yousef Abdullah al-Benyan was speaking after the firm, one of the world’s largest petrochemicals groups, on Wednesday reported a …
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