February, 2018

• 18 February

  AED430mn Azizi Plaza to be delivered ahead of schedule

  

  Dubai / Emirates Business Azizi Developments, one of the leading private developers in the UAE, has announced that the Azizi Plaza Serviced Apartments will be delivered ahead of schedule in Q2 2018. Launched in October 2016, the AED 430mn Azizi Plaza will offer a total of 434 fully serviced and furnished apartments comprised of 286 studios, with 46 one-bedroom units …

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• 18 February

  Big oil urges Norway to throw lifeline to carbon capture

  

  Bloomberg Three of the world’s biggest oil companies called on Norway to help maintain funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology that is stagnating amid concerns about whether it can ever be cost-effective. The chief executive officers of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA and Norway’s state-controlled Statoil ASA gathered on the sidelines of an energy conference in Oslo …

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• 18 February

  Kenya plans royalty for geothermal power producers

  Bloomberg Kenya will introduce a royalty for geothermal-power producers under a proposed new law. Fees will be levied at a rate of 1 percent to 2.5 percent of revenue generated from the energy source within the first decade of a geothermal license being issued, according to the draft Energy Bill presented to lawmakers. The levy will then climb to between …

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• 18 February

  Oman Gas talking to banks for $1bn bridge loan

  DUBAI / Reuters State-owned Oman Gas Co. is working with a group of banks to raise a bridge loan of slightly over $1 billion, which will later be refinanced via a US dollar bond issue, sources familiar with the matter said. The natural gas transport company, which was bought by state-owned Oman Oil Company in 2013, will use the financing …

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• 18 February

  What shaped stock market’s $3 trillion trauma – any guesses

  

  Bloomberg Want a neat narrative? There isn’t one. Stocks buckled, $3 trillion was lost, then just as quickly, roughly half of it came back. Nothing quite explains every little twist and turn. Much of it remains a blur. But there are clues to be gleaned from the behaviour of buyers and sellers. Several key facts stand out. One: a very …

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• 18 February

  Nasdaq Dubai launches Abu Dhabi, Dubai equity index futures

  ABU DHABI / Reuters The Nasdaq Dubai exchange launched equity index futures on Sunday for the main indexes of Dubai Financial Market and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, a top official said. The new instruments could help to attract fresh money to the exchanges by giving investors more opportunity to hedge. Nasdaq Dubai began trading single-stock futures for shares in …

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• 18 February

  Region may have upward bias on oil, interest rates

  DUBAI / Reuters Middle Eastern stock markets may have an upward bias on Sunday because of a gradual recovery in oil prices and in Egypt’s case, last week’s interest rate cut, although there appears to be little reason for any strong rise in equities. Wall Street closed marginally firmer while Brent oil continued its gradual recovery, settling up 51 US …

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• 18 February

  Indian banks reveal exposure in billion-dollar PNB scam

  

  Bloomberg India’s state-owned UCO Bank said it has exposure of $411.8 million in the nearly $2 billion bank fraud perpetrated against Punjab National Bank, a case linked to billionaire jeweler Nirav Modi. UCO Bank’s Hong Kong branch granted loans against letters of credit issued by PNB, UCO Bank said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange. Other banks, including …

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• 18 February

  Italy’s phone carriers face antitrust probe over billing practices

  

  Bloomberg Authorities in Italy searched the headquarters of the country’s biggest phone carriers as part of an antitrust probe over pricing of mobile and fixed-line services. Financial police and officials from the Italian Antitrust Agency searched offices in Rome and Milan of Telecom Italia SpA, Vodafone Group’s local unit, Swisscom AG’s Fastweb, Wind Tre and industry lobby Asstel, the regulator …

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• 18 February

  $1trn dream sours for Standard Life

  

  Bloomberg Martin Gilbert and Keith Skeoch’s $1 trillion dream has grown a little more distant. Six months after merging Scotland’s two biggest money managers to create a giant capable of competing with the largest US companies, the co-chiefs of Standard Life Aberdeen Plc are instead digesting the potential loss of almost 20 percent of the funds at their asset-management business. …

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