Bloomberg LVMH shares rose to a record in Paris after the luxury leader’s sales far exceeded estimates on rebounding demand for items from Louis Vuitton bags to Hennessy cognac. Figures showed first-quarter organic revenue rose 13 percent, compared with the 8 percent median forecast. All divisions beat estimates, with the fashion and drinks units standing out. The stock gained ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Shares of Dubai Islamic Bank outperformed most peers in the region on Tuesday after reporting a low double digit growth in first quarter net profit while market liquidity on those bourses was generally thin. Long-term institutional investors stayed away in light of heightened geopolitical risk, traders said. Dubai Islamic Bank shares rose 0.9 percent after the ...

  Bloomberg Stocks were mixed on Tuesday and the price of gold rose as investors monitored geopolitical risks — from North Korea’s rumblings over the US to major powers’ plan to put pressure on Russia over the Syrian war. Germany’s DAX edged 0.1 percent lower to 12,194 and the CAC 40 of France was 0.2 percent higher at 5,116. Britain’s ...

  DUBAI / WAM The Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker said that March data signalled a sharp improvement in business conditions across Dubai’s private sector economy, with output, new orders, employment and stocks of purchases all expanding at a faster pace than in the preceding month. This was highlighted by a rise in the NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index, a ...

  KUWAIT / WAM The Arab region now produces 15.5 percent of the world gas production, an increase of 11.8 percent from the year 1980’s levels, according to the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, (OAPEC). Kuwait News Agency quoted Engineer Wael Abdul Mo’ti, gas industries expert at the Technical Affairs Department (OAPEC) as saying that Arab countries’ natural gas ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM The total operating expenses of Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC, Etisalat, amounted to AED 34.6 billion from AED 32.75 billion last year. The 5.6 percent growth, which excludes the royalty fees to the Federal Government, comes on the back of tremendous business development and strong performance by the Group in 18 markets across the world. ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business For the tenth consecutive year local industry and government bodies will exhibit at Hannover Messe, the world’s largest manufacturing industry trade fair, being held April 24 – 28 in the German provincial capital. Led by the Ministry of Economy and the Department of Economic Development – Abu Dhabi, the 1,300 square metre UAE pavilion ...

  SHARJAH / WAM The Sharjah FDI Office, Invest in Sharjah, operating under the auspices of the government of Sharjah, has announced the hosting of Sharjah-Arab Business Roundtable, a massive step in emphasising Sharjah’s importance in the Middle East’s finance and business sectors. The event is a platform for Invest in Sharjah to showcase the emirate’s investment opportunities in a ...

  GENEVA / AP The UN refugee agency on Monday took the rare step of urging European Union members to suspend returns of asylum-seekers to their partner, Hungary, faulting its new policy of systematically placing migrants in containers and expelling any migrants not holding the proper papers. UNHCR says that since a tough new law took effect on March 28, ...

  CAIRO / AP Egyptian Christians were burying their dead on Monday after IS suicide bombers killed at least 45 people in attacks on Palm Sunday services in two cities, as a state of emergency went into effect amid fears of further violence. At least 17 people were killed at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, the historic seat of Christendom ...