December, 2017

• 18 December

  Politics are dragging down Pakistan economy, again

  

  Like much else about Pakistan, it’s often infuriatingly difficult to determine whether or not its economy is on the brink of disaster. This week, as the Pakistani rupee lost 5 percent of its value in just three days, it looked like trouble was brewing. And sure, this might be a sign of the economy slipping towards a balance-of-payments crisis. But, ...

  Read More »
• 18 December

  Hong Kong’s IPO quirks undermine its New York fightback

  

  Hong Kong’s move to allow dual-class shares should attract a wave of listings by Chinese technology companies. It won’t be enough for the city to challenge New York as the global hub for new-economy fundraising. Despite a year of hot flotations that included firms backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Hong Kong is close to being ...

  Read More »
• 18 December

  Whirlpool has Washington in a spin cycle

  

  A household appliance will be the next steppingstone on America’s path to restored greatness. The government is poised to punish many Americans, in the name of protecting a few of them, because, in the government’s opinion, too many of them are choosing to buy foreign-made washing machines for no better reason than that the buyers think they are better. If ...

  Read More »
• 18 December

  Bombardier shifts focus from C Series to business jet

  

  Bloomberg Bombardier Inc. predicted that growth in its corporate-jet unit will help offset lost revenue from handing the keys of its marquee commercial-aircraft programme to Airbus SE. Business-aircraft revenue could increase 70 percent in the next three years, Bombardier said in statement. Overall sales are expected to rise to $20 billion in 2020, down from a previous forecast of $25 ...

  Read More »
• 18 December

  Delta Air scraps 400 flights in second day of Atlanta cancellations

  

  Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc. and other carriers worked to get thousands of stranded passengers onto planes after a major electrical disruption in Atlanta crippled service at the world’s busiest hub, extending flight cancellations into a second day. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport still had 411 inbound and outbound cancellations on Monday after 1,183 the day before, according to FlightAware, a ...

  Read More »
• 18 December

  Ryanair’s Irish pilots suspend strike after union recognition

  

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc’s Irish pilots suspended a planned strike, after Europe’s biggest low-cost carrier agreed to recognise their labour union. The Irish company wrote to pilot organisations in Ireland, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal inviting each of them to talks “to recognise these unions as the representative body for pilots in Ryanair in each of these countries,” ...

  Read More »
• 18 December

  ANA seeks Myanmar venture after failed attempts

  Bloomberg ANA Holdings Inc. is attempting to set up a venture in Myanmar for the third time after previous efforts collapsed, as Japan’s largest carrier seeks to capture demand in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. “We’re going to find a new partner again,” Shinya Katanozaka, chief executive officer of ANA Holdings, said in an interview in Tokyo. “Even though this ...

  Read More »
• 18 December

  Crucial Christmas in store for three besieged UK retailers

  

  Bloomberg After a year to forget for British retailers, investors are betting some of the UK’s major chains now face a make-or-break holiday shopping season. Among those with the most at stake are department-store operators Debenhams Plc and House of Fraser Ltd., as well as fashion retailer New Look Retail Group Ltd., owned by embattled billionaire Christo Wiese. Despite Black ...

  Read More »
• 17 December

  UAE hotel investments to hit $8.4bn in 2018

  

  DUBAI / Emirates Business The Arabian Hotel Investment Conference 2018 (AHIC) is forecasting significant opportunities for hotel investors targeting the Middle East in light of new data from MEED Projects, which predicts that more than $14bn worth of hotel construction contracts will be awarded in 2018. According to MEED Projects, the online projects tracking service, the value of new hotel ...

  Read More »
• 17 December

  Sharjah approves AED22.1 billion budget for 2018

  SHARJAH / WAM HH Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has issued Law No. 10 2017 approving a general budget of AED22.1 billion for the fiscal year 2018. The total amount is a 6 percent increase from the emirate’s 2017 budget and focusses on several strategic objectives and indicators within the economic, ...

  Read More »