Bloomberg U.K. house prices rose 1.3 percent in March, pushing the average above 300,000 pounds ($435,000) for the first time, according to Rightmove Plc. Average asking prices increased 7.6 percent compared with a year earlier, the property-website operator said on Monday. That takes the increase over the past 10 years to 50 percent, more than twice the pace of earnings …

Dubai / Emirates Business Nine Elms Property Development Ltd, a subsidiary of DAMAC International Limited, has announced a re-branding of its premier residential project in London. AYKON Nine Elms, the 50-storey tower with interiors by Italian fashion house Versace, has been renamed AYKON London One, in a tribute to the skyscraper tower being the only ‘One’ in central London with …

CAIRO / EMIRATES BUSINESS Egypt’s real estate developer SODIC signed sales contracts worth 4.4 billion Egyptian pounds (US$ 495.5million) during the financial year ended in December 2015, according to a source. SODIC , or Sixth of October Development and Investment Company revenues for the period reached 1.47 billion Egyptian pounds, while its net profit registered 321.331 million Egyptian pounds from …

Bloomberg When Ethiopian farmer Mulugeta Mezemir ceded his land three years ago to property developers on the fringes of the expanding capital, Addis Ababa, he felt he had no choice. A gated community with white picket fences and mock Roman pillars built by Country Club Developers now occupies the fields he tilled in Legetafo, Oromia region, after the 60-year-old said …

Bloomberg Casino Guichard-Perrachon was cut to junk by Standard and Poor’s, increasing the French grocer’s debt costs as short seller Carson Block attacks its accounting. The long-term debt rating was lowered by one step to BB+, the highest non-investment grade, Standard & Poor’s said in a statement on Monday. The outlook is stable. S&P had said it may lower it …

Bloomberg Nigeria, reeling from the slump in oil prices, has asked domestic and international airlines for discounts as it seeks to cap travel expenses that are its biggest source of overhead costs, the Finance Ministry said in a statement that was issued last week. A “conservative” 5 percent reduction on airfare tickets would save the West African government about 4 …

Bloomberg Infibeam Incorporation Ltd. plans to raise as much as 5.4 billion rupees ($81 million) in an initial public offering as it becomes the first of India’s high-profile online retailers to proceed to a share sale. The company is offering 12.5 million shares in a book build at 360 rupees to 432 rupees apiece. Promoters and investors hold 42.7 million …

Bloomberg Fraport AG, the operator of Frankfurt airport, fell the most in 4 1/2 years after saying terrorist attacks in Turkey will hurt its business there as travellers avoid the country. Fraport dropped as much as 8.5 percent, the steepest intraday decline since August 2011, and was trading down 8 percent at 51.81 euros as of 1:08 p.m. in Frankfurt …

Bloomberg French aviation authorities have asked airlines to cancel more Paris and Marseille flights as a two-day strike by air-traffic controllers disrupts services for passengers across France and in other European cities. Orly airport south of the French capital was particularly hard hit by labour disruptions, the Direction Generale de l’Aviation Civile said in a statement. Even before the latest …

ALKESH SHARMA / EMIRATES BUSINESS Home to over 8.5 million people, the United Arab Emirates, has always led from the forefront when it comes to responding to the region’s call for water security. Geographically placed at a location that is struggling with depleting water table and scarcity of fresh water, UAE has adopted a formidable stance by starting many pioneering …