December, 2018

• 9 December

  11.58mn tourists visit Dubai in first 9 months of 2018

  

  Dubai / WAM Dubai remains on track to becoming the most visited city for global travel, business and events, according to the latest visitation figures released by Dubai’s Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism). The emirate welcomed 11.58 million visitors in the first three quarters of 2018, with India retaining its position as Dubai’s leading source market, followed ...

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• 9 December

  Eskom’s looming ‘death spiral’ menaces South African economy

  

  Bloomberg Bloated by debt, bled by corruption and battered by structurally declining sales, South African power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd is facing what’s known in the industry as a “death spiral.” And the Johannesburg-based company poses the biggest credit risk to Africa’s most industrialised nation, according to S&P Global Ratings. More than a decade of unreliable supply and surging ...

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• 9 December

  India emulating China in LNG use to fight pollution

  

  Bloomberg China’s dramatic increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports ov-er past two years may have hogged the headlines, but India may well emulate its neighbour in switching to the cleanest, fastest-growing fossil fuel. As China’s shift to natural gas from dirtier burning fuels such as coal and fuel oil helps improve air quality, Indian cities are rising in pollution ...

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• 9 December

  Canadian Natural cuts capital budget for 2019

  Bloomberg The pipeline shortage that has been strangling the Canadian oil industry is weighing on spending plans for next year, with one major producer slashing its capital budget for 2019 by C$1 billion ($750 million). Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, citing a lack of shipping options, said that it’s targeting a base capital plan of C$3.7 billion for next year, about ...

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• 9 December

  Japan coal stalwart adds renewables

  Bloomberg Marubeni Corp, the Japanese trading house for whom coal makes up about a quarter of its power generation, never expected renewable energy prices to plunge as much as they have. Seizing those falling costs, the company plans to add 1 gigawatt of clean energy over the next five years as it halves its coal-fired generation by 2030, according to ...

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• 9 December

  HCL drops most in 7 weeks on $1.8bn IBM-asset buy

  

  Bloomberg HCL Technologies Ltd., founded by Indian billionaire Shiv Nadar’s family, was the worst performer among the nation’s top 50 companies after the software maker said it was buying some of International Business Machines Corp.’s software assets for $1.8 billion. The shares slid 5 percent to 961.95 rupees at the close in Mumbai on a day when the S&P BSE ...

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• 9 December

  SoftBank hires first female partner to help manage Vision Fund

  Bloomberg SoftBank hired Facebook Inc. executive Kirthiga Reddy as a partner at its $100 billion Vision Fund, the first woman to join a group of just a dozen that oversees the world’s biggest pool of technology investments. Reddy has joined SoftBank Investment Advisors, which manages the giant fund globally, to focus on frontier and enterprise technology globally, according to a ...

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• 9 December

  Report reveals India’s air pollution crisis

  Bloomberg Roughly 1.24 million people died in 2017 from India’s air pollution, according to The Lancet. The research released found 13 percent of India’s deaths — one out of every eight — could be attributed to bad air, underscoring the scale of the South Asian nation’s battle with the world’s deadliest air. More people died from smog than from household ...

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• 9 December

  Vedanta mulls expansion at new S African zinc mine

  

  Bloomberg Vedanta Ltd. is targeting zinc production of 1 million metric tons a year from its southern African operations as it expands output at its new Gamsberg mine in South Africa’s Northern Cape province, helping it remain one of the world’s biggest miners of the steel ingredient. Vedanta Zinc International expects to receive board approval to proceed with phase 2 ...

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• 9 December

  Pininfarina turnaround unfinished story: Mahindra

  

  Bloomberg The revival of Pininfarina SpA, the iconic coach-builder famous for designing Ferrari sports cars, is ahead of schedule, though the turnaround is an “unfinished story,” said Anand Mahindra, chairman of the group that bought the Italian company three years ago. Pininfarina, founded in 1930 by Battista “Pinin” Farina, is boosting profit and winning orders for clients inside and outside ...

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