February, 2016

• 15 February

  Hong Kong land price plunges 70% in govt tender

  Bloomberg In the latest sign that Hong Kong’s property correction is deepening, a parcel of land sold by the government in the New Territories went for nearly 70 percent less per square foot than a similar transaction in September. The 405,756 square foot site in Tai Po sold for HK$2.13 billion ($274 million) or HK$1,904 per square foot, in a ...

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• 15 February

  Manazel posts AED 195mn profit up by 29%

  

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Manazel Real Estate PJSC (”Manazel”), a leading UAE developer, on Monday announced its results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2015, the first full year results since listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in November 2014. Strong growth in earnings reflects a robust performance for the year. Net profit grew 29% to AED ...

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• 15 February

  London realty prices jump 5.4% in February

  Bloomberg Asking prices for London homes reached another record this month as the winter lull in the market came to an end. The 5.4 percent monthly surge puts the average price at 643,843 pounds ($932,000), property website operator Rightmove said. Inner London surged almost 8 percent to 848,000 pounds. Nationally, prices rose 2.9 percent in February from January. The report ...

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• 15 February

  ADM sponsors, participates in future landscape and public realm meet

  

  Abu Dhabi / WAM As part of its participation in the Fusture Landscape and Public Realm Conference held on Yas Island in February, Abu Dhabi City Municipality, (ADM), reviewed many initiatives in providing services for public realm projects, lighting standards and sustainability in public realms. It also presented other working papers highlighting the role played by the municipality in landscaping ...

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• 15 February

  Humanity may be losing a race with its own growth

  

  Bloomberg Humanity is engaged in a high-stakes race with its own growth: Lest our use of energy and materials get out of control, we must constantly innovate to become more efficient. Unfortunately, new research suggests we may be losing. The rapid advancement of electronics technology illustrates how the race works. The number of transistors in the world’s devices has gone ...

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• 15 February

  Rice growing gets a ‘DNA’ leap

  

  LOS BANOS / AFP Rice-growing techniques learned through thousands of years of trial and error are about to be turbocharged with DNA technology in a breakthrough hailed by scientists as a potential second “green revolution”. Over the next few years farmers are expected to have new genome sequencing technology at their disposal, helping to offset a myriad of problems that ...

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• 15 February

  New thermal energy storage prototype at Masdar Institute

  

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies, has announced the successful initiation of its Concentrated Solar Power on Demand Demonstration (CSPonD Demo) pilot at the Masdar Institute Solar Platform (MISP) located in Masdar City. The demonstration is intended to show that the novel ...

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• 15 February

  Oil gives up gains as Iran loads shipment for Europe

  

  Singapore / AFP Oil prices turned lower again on Monday as Iran prepared to ship its first consignment of the commodity since sanctions were lifted, reigniting worries over a global supply glut. Both main contracts had soared more than 10 percent on Friday on a report that the OPEC producers’ club was open to output cuts that could drag prices ...

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• 15 February

  China yuan surges after central bank chief’s comments

  

  Shanghai / AFP China’s yuan currency surged more than one percent against the dollar on Monday, its biggest rise in over a decade, after the central bank chief said there was no reason the beleaguered unit should fall further. The yuan stood at 6.4944 to $1.0 at 0830 GMT, up 1.14 percent from February 5 — the last trading day ...

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• 15 February

  ADCB launches regionally distinctive private banking

  

  Abu Dhabi / EMIRATES BUSINESS Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), announced the launch of “ADCB Private”, a new private banking proposition providing globally sophisticated banking and wealth management solutions for high-net-worth customers, delivered from the UAE. Wealthy clients in the region and the UAE have historically had to seek international banking and investment services that required them to deal with overseas ...

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