The consensus is that the US consumer is still strong enough to propel the economy forward even though the manufacturing sector has weakened. This view underpins expectations for improved corporate earnings in 2020. But the hard economic data strikes a discordant note. In particular, growth in industrial production on a year-over-year basis remains in a decisive downturn, sliding deeper into ...

Being a shopping-mall landlord is a risky business in the age of e-commerce, even in retail-crazy Singapore. So it’s only sensible that CapitaLand Mall Trust is merging with CapitaLand Commercial Trust, which owns offices. The $6.2 billion deal between the two sister real estate investment trusts, or REITs, will create a property owner of some heft. The combined entity will ...

ABU DHABI / WAM First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), on Tuesday reported its full year financial results for 2019, announcing a net profit of AED12.5 billion, up 4% from AED12.0 billion in 2018. Commenting on the results, HH Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of FAB, said, “2019 marked another year of growth for FAB, despite challenging market conditions ...