Bloomberg Australia’s government said it will build a long-awaited second airport for Sydney after the operator of the city’s existing hub ruled out developing the project because of the “considerable” risks to shareholders. Details of the plan for Western Sydney Airport will be unveiled in the budget next week, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in an emailed statement Tuesday. ...

  Bloomberg Alitalia SpA started bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in a decade after workers rejected job cuts and concessions linked to a 2 billion-euro ($2.2 billion) recapitalization plan aimed at salvaging the cash-strapped Italian airline. Shareholders voted unanimously to file for special administration, the carrier said in a statement following a meeting on Tuesday. Under Italian law, the ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business In recognition of its continued leadership in the Investment Banking space, Barclays has been crowned ‘Best Foreign Investment Bank’ in the Middle East by EMEA Finance, a leading banking and finance publication specialising in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The judging panel’s decision to name Barclays as ‘Best Foreign Investment Bank in the Middle East’ ...

  Bloomberg Australia kept interest rates unchanged as faster inflation and signals of looming fiscal stimulus combine with an upswing in global growth. “Above-trend growth is expected in a number of advanced economies,” Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said in a statement announcing the decision on Tuesday. “The improvement in the global economy has contributed to higher commodity ...

  Bloomberg Fidelity Bank Plc expects profit to rise by 30 percent this year as it benefits from investments in high-yielding Nigerian government debt and improving supplies of foreign exchange, even after the country’s economy declined for the first time in 25 years. Fidelity is able to buy Nigerian 10-year bonds that yield more than 16 percent, the second-highest among ...

  Bloomberg Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., (ICBC) the world’s largest lender by assets, reported its strongest quarterly profit growth in two years as soured credit and lending margins stabilized amid an uptick in the economy. Net income rose 1.4 percent to 75.79 billion yuan ($11 billion) in the three months ended March 31 from 74.76 billion yuan ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM The statistics by the UAE Central Bank affirmed improved operating efficiency, with public sector deposits up by AED23.8 billion at the end of Q1 2017, while the private sector deposits stood at AED17.6 billion over the same period, bringing to AED41.4 billion ($11.27bn) the two sectors’ total deposits. Credits offered to the trade and industrial ...

  Dubai / Agencies The estimated value of the building and construction industry in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is expected to surge to US$336 billion by the year 2020, according to recent business reports. Thermal insulation technologies provide efficient solutions conducive to increasing the value of the industry in MENA from $235 billion in 2016 to ...

  ABU DHABI / AGENCIES First Abu Dhabi Bank is “seriously studying” expanding into Saudi Arabia, either through acquisitions or a new license, its chief executive officer told Al Khaleej newspaper. All opportunities for local and foreign acquisitions are open to the bank, Abdulhamid Saeed, said in an interview with the Arabic daily. First Abu Dhabi Bank was created with ...

  SHARJAH / WAM Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) has released details of the key themes of the Euromoney Emirates Conference to be held on May 8-9 at the Sheraton Sharjah Hotel, under the theme ‘Finance and Investment for an Innovative Economy’. Held under the patronage of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohamad bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy ...