January, 2018

• 17 January

  Gulf stock markets mixed

  Reuters Gulf stock markets were mixed on Wednesday with Masraf Al Rayan, Qatar’s second-largest bank by market value, pulling the Qatari stock index 0.2 percent lower. Shares in Masraf Al Rayan sank 2.7 percent after the bank reported a 9.6 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit to 466 million riyals, below an average 562.5 million riyal forecast by Reuters analysts. ...

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• 17 January

  India mulls selling HPCL at not more than 9 percent premium

  

  Bloomberg India is considering a plan to sell its ownership in Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (HPCL) to the nation’s biggest explorer at a premium of not more than 9 percent of the company’s six-month average share price as it seeks to reach a final agreement as early as January 31, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Capping the premium ...

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• 17 January

  India’s Hike phones work without ‘data’

  

  Bloomberg WhatsApp rival Hike of India is introducing a version of Android that lets users message, make payments and access information without an active data connection, seeking to offer services to people who aren’t yet able to access the internet. The modified mobile software, called Total, will be available on four devices starting March, Hike said. People will be able ...

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• 17 January

  Vertical farming startup Plenty to build indoor farms in China

  Bloomberg Vertical farming startup Plenty Inc. plans to build 300 indoor farms in or near major Chinese cities to meet rising demand from the country’s middle-class who are willing to pay more for safer food. The company also plans to set up what it calls experience centres in Beijing and Shanghai so that local residents can taste raw vegetables, Chief ...

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• 17 January

  Yoga guru’s ambition to beat Unilever in India gets tougher

  

  Bloomberg Hindustan Unilever Ltd.’s revenue climbed 4.1 percent in the third quarter as India’s largest consumer-goods company widened the gap with competition including from yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. Revenue at the Indian unit of Unilever rose to 87.4 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) in the three months through December, the Mumbai-based company said. That exceeded the 84.3 billion-rupee ...

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• 17 January

  Wanda nears sale of Australia properties

  

  Bloomberg Billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group Co. is close to reaching an agreement to sell two Australian luxury property projects—one in Sydney and one on the nation’s Gold Coast, according to people familiar with the matter. The buyer is of Chinese origin, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because discussions are private. A deal ...

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• 17 January

  China solar boom boosts clean energy funding near record

  

  Bloomberg China’s insatiable appetite for solar power led to a surprise increase in global clean-energy investment last year even as US President Donald Trump pushed to undermine pollution rules and curbs on coal. About $333.5 billion poured into renewable energy and cutting-edge power technologies, up 3 percent from 2016 and 7 percent short of the record set in 2015, according ...

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• 17 January

  Flow of unwanted oil from China set to turn into a deluge

  

  Bloomberg The pace at which China exports the fuel it doesn’t want is set to jump by more than four times in 2018, according to the nation’s biggest energy producer. That’s a harbinger of bad news for processors in the rest of Asia — from South Korea to Japan and India — who now have to contend with higher crude ...

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• 17 January

  Trump’s offshore oil plan will struggle to lure rigs from Guyana

  

  Bloomberg The world’s hottest offshore prospect for oil companies is off the coast of Guyana, where a string of major discoveries has drawn hundreds of millions of dollars in a quest for crude. The Trump administration is hoping to lure some of that investment to the US with a proposal to sell leases in almost every inch of the nation’s ...

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• 17 January

  Algeria inks deal with Vitol to cut fuel import bill

  

  TIGUENTOURIN / Reuters Algeria’s state oil firm Sonatrach will exchange crude for refined products with the world’s largest oil trader Vitol, a Sonatrach official said of the rare move that aims to reduce a record fuel import bill. Vitol would receive up to 2 million barrels a month of the OPEC member’s light, sweet crude and would deliver gasoline and ...

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