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DUBAI / Reuters The Saudi Arabian central bank’s foreign reserves rose in December for a third consecutive month, a sign that higher oil prices may be easing pressure on the government’s finances, official data showed. The bank’s net foreign assets grew $2.0 billion from November to $488.9 billion last month, after increasing $1.0 billion in November and $8.3 billion in ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG’s big hit from stricter global capital standards may be softened by the small print. New rules give supervisors the option to exclude banks’ litigation payouts when calculating their so-called operational risk. If that happens, it would be a boon for Deutsche Bank and potentially improve returns for shareholders. The bank declined to comment specifically on the ...

Bloomberg Scott Kirby has a very specific view about how the three US hub-and-spoke airlines work best, having managed two of them. In his current job as president of United Airlines, Kirby’s role is to oversee a major overhaul of how the carrier operates, beginning with a broad restructuring of its three domestic-focussed hubs in Chicago, Denver and Houston. By ...

Bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd., the premium carrier that’s undergoing a business revamp to fend off competition from Gulf airlines and budget operators, is turning to its employees for ideas. Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier is setting up a lab and encouraging workers across its group—including SilkAir and Scoot—to submit proposals that would help boost efficiency in its operations, Chief Executive Officer ...

Bloomberg Steinhoff International Holdings NV said it has secured enough money to keep its businesses running in the immediate term and can now start talks with a broader group of creditors. The troubled South African retail group has arranged new credit lines for units in the UK, US and France as well as agreeing a restructuring of its Austrian division, ...

Bloomberg JD.com Inc. is preparing to make its US debut with a beachhead in Los Angeles, seeking to best arch-rival Alibaba and challenge Amazon.com Inc. on its home turf. The $68 billion company, which said in December 2017 it’ll start online sales in the US by the second half of 2018, is now seeking funds to bankroll a logistics build-up ...

ABU DHABI / Reuters Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) posted a 7 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Sunday, bolstered by a rise in net interest and Islamic financing income. The emirate’s second-largest bank by assets made a net profit attributable to shareholders of AED1.07 billion ($291.3 million) in the three months to December 31, compared to AED 1.0 ...

DAVOS / WAM Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Middle East and North Africa Regional Business Council (MENA-RBC) has taken part in a panel discussion titled ‘Going Digital in the Arab World’, highlighting innovative approaches and landmark initiatives being implemented by the UAE and other Arab countries to harness the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The ...

DUBAI / WAM The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) revealed that the number of taxi fare transactions recorded by the Dubai Taxi Corporation and franchise companies, and paid through NoL and credit cards in 2017 reached 2,213,234 transactions. The number reflects an increase of about 731% from the level of transactions clocked last year, which amounted to 266,330 transactions. Adel ...

DUBAI / Emirates Business His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, performed the funeral prayer at Al Mu’tareed Mosque in Al Ain, on the body ...