ABU DHABI, UAE – Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) has approved the Board of Directors proposal to distribute a cash dividend of US$0.15 (AED0.56) per share, translating to a total pay-out of US$1.1 billion (AED4.099 billion) equivalent to 50 percent of its 2023 net profit. This came as the ADCB...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- A total of $13.4 billion in investments were announced during the third edition of the International Tech Conference LEAP, the biggest global tech event in terms of turnout, which has concluded in Riyadh on Thursday. LEAP conference organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology,...

The debut issue of the company is valued at US$300m.

Abu Dhabi, UAE--The UAE Ministry of Defence and Masdar have signed an agreement to develop multi-solar plants across Abu Dhabi. Emerge, a joint venture between the UAE’s Masdar and France’s EDF Group, will provide a full turnkey solution for the projects, including finance, design, procurement, construction, operations, and maintenance for...

The company’s 2023 annual revenue rises to US$1.2 billion.

Saudi Arabia said it transferred an additional eight percent stake from oil giant Aramco to firms owned by the kingdom's PIF sovereign wealth fund, according to state media. Aramco is the main source of revenue for Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious economic and social reform program...

Nationwide has offered US$3.7 billion for Virgin Money.

Its net profit shot up to US$1.82bn as demand booms.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--The biggest tech show in the Middle East, LEAP 2024, hosted by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, is preparing for what organizers are terming as "record-breaking" final day with more announcement of investments expected to be made on the occasion. Abdullah Al-Swaha, Saudi minister of communications and information technology,...

Sharjah, UAE-- Nearly 400,000 visitors from Europe have traveled to Sharjah during last year, marking a notable 28 percent increase compared to the previous year, with Europeans constituting 27 percent of the total visitor count. Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) made the announcement during its press conference on...

Dubai, UAE--Dubai Chambers has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with DP World to enable the chambers to leverage DP World’s global network to establish and host international representative offices at the group’s facilities around the world. The partnership aligns with the goals of the Dubai Global initiative launched by...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- After announcing a staggering US$11.9 billion of investments on Monday, LEAP 2024, the world's most attended technology exhibition, unveiled another raft of investments totaling over US$888 million on Wednesday. The investments at LEAP 2024, which runs until March 7 at Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre in...

The company's board announces a dividend of $775 million.

The fund saw participation from leading sovereign wealth funds.

On Wall Street, the Dow and the S&P 500 both finished 1.0 percent lower, while the tech-rich Nasdaq composite ended the day down 1.7 percent, pulled down by firms including Apple and Tesla. Despite the gloomy trading day in New York, US stock indices are still up sharply on the...

OpenAI captured the public imagination in late 2022 with the release of its chatbot ChatGPT, which can generate poems and essays and even succeed in exams. OpenAI has received about $13 billion in investment from Microsoft in recent years, and both companies market AI services to developers and individuals.

DUBAI, UAE – Dubai Mall welcomed a record 105 million visitors in 2023, a jump of over 19 percent on the previous year’s 88 million, according to latest figures released by the mall on Tuesday. Figures also showed a staggering 20 million people visited the mall in the first two...

Hong Kong, China - Asian markets largely fell on Tuesday after China set an ambitious five percent annual growth target and Wall Street shares dropped ahead of the release of key US economic indicators. Tokyo finished flat, a day after Japan's benchmark Nikkei index hit a record high, closing above 40,000...

Michael Stuebgen, interior minister for Brandenburg state, said that "if initial findings are confirmed, this is a perfidious attack on our electricity infrastructure".

Revenue in 2023 grew by 10 percent YoY to $599 million.

Bitcoin has enjoyed an unbridled rise since the approval of a new type of investment indexed to the cryptocurrency. Since their approval on January 10 by US securities regulators, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) indexed to bitcoin have theoretically enabled a wider public to invest in the cryptocurrency without having to hold...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- The Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Mumtalakat Holding Company, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand cooperation and enable investment opportunities in Bahrain, PIF said. PIF said in a statement that the MoU provides multiple...

Higher utilization rates in Saudi, Egypt fuel revenue growth.

The price range implies a market capitalization of $1.63bn-$1.72bn.

They will utilize outdoor media-leasing spaces for advertising.

Abu Dhabi, UAE--Ireland wants to become a gateway for the UAE and other Gulf states to the European Union (EU) market, Simon Coveney, Ireland’s Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, told the Emirates News Agency (WAM). As evidence of thriving relations, he highlighted the growing Irish diaspora in Gulf Cooperation...

It is part of the airlines' effort to 'modernize' its fleet.

Premier Li Qiang formally announced the growth objective, alongside the overall budget and key government policies for 2024, at China's annual National People's Congress (NPC), which kicked off Tuesday morning. A budget report indicated China's military spending - second only to the United States' - would rise by 7.2 percent.

Abu Dhabi, UAE--The MENA region's commercial aircraft services market will more than double in value by 2042, according to Airbus’ latest Global Services Forecast (GSF). Growing to US$28 billion from US$12 billion, and registering a 4.4 percent average annual growth, the regional expansion will surpass the global average growth of...

Brussels, Belgium - The EU on Monday hit Apple with a more than 1.8-billion-euro fine ($1.9 billion) for violating the bloc's laws by preventing European users from accessing information about alternative, cheaper music streaming services. The iPhone maker immediately vowed to appeal the first ever antitrust fine slapped on Apple by...

Dubai, UAE – The Middle East witnessed the highest percentage of new CEO appointments globally, averaging at 16 percent, with Saudi Arabia leading with an impressive 20 percent, a report said. This trend is paralleled by markets such as Poland and Switzerland, with similarly high rates of new appointments, according...

It will make next-generation radar systems in UAE.

Doha, Qatar -- Qatar's General Producer Price Index (PPI) for January 2024 is estimated at 113.22 points showing a decrease of 4.38 percent compared to December 2023. On Y-o-Y basis, PPI of January 2024 showed a decrease of 12.63 percent, according to the Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA). The monthly PPI of...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced has said that the Kingdom witnessed technology investments on the first day of LEAP 2024 worth more than $11.9 billion. Amazon Web Services will invest $5.3 billion in the Kingdom to create a high-capacity cloud region, the...

Toll usage revenue rose 11.7% YoY to US$502million.

Cairo, Egypt-- Qatar and Egypt have discussed enhancing ties in the field of civil aviation between the two countries. In this connection, the civil aviation officials from the two countries held talks in Cairo to boost the cooperation. Mohamed bin Faleh Al Hajri, in charge of managing Qatar Civil Aviation...

The bank has raised its interest rates to tame inflation..

Abu Dhabi, UAE-- The UAE has expanded its network of trading partners around the world through comprehensive economic partnerships, contributing to increasing trade and investment flows and enhancing global economic growth, according to top officials from the country. Top economic officials have stressed the UAE's significant role in supporting the...

The market value of its net assets crossed US$5.66bn.

Head of Tunisia's trade union confederation Noureddine Taboubi said in a speech to protestors that the economic and social situation continues to worsen in the country, slamming the implementation of "diktats from the International Monetary Fund" (IMF) at the expense of ordinary Tunisians.

An energy ministry source said Riyadh "will extend its voluntary cut of one million barrels per day, which was implemented in July 2023, until the end of the second quarter of 2024," the official Saudi Press Agency reported. "Afterwards, in order to support market stability, these additional cut volumes will...

Sharjah, UAE -- Bank of Sharjah has acted as a joint lead manager and bookrunner in Sharjah government's issuance of a $750 million, 12-year US dollar-denominated senior unsecured sustainable bond, alongside other international and regional banks. The bond attracted significant investor interest, evidenced by an order book that exceeded $4...

The duration of each contract is of 22 months.

The company's fourth-quarter net profit was $78 million.

It will commit the two to sustainable innovation.

Abu Dhabi, UAE--The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has concluded with the acceptance of Abu Dhabi Declaration, a landmark document securing important new trade agreements that will extend the benefits of the global trading system to more nations. Following a week of intensive negotiations, Dr...

Brussels, Belgium - Changes Apple is making to its services in the European Union "make a mockery" of new antitrust rules in the bloc, 34 digital organizations complained to the European Commission this week. They include app makers Epic Games and Spotify. "We are very concerned that Apple’s proposed scheme for...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - According to data released by the National Center for Palms and Dates (NCPD), the value of Saudi Arabia's date exports increased by 14 percent in 2023, reaching US$389 million (SAR1.462 Billion), compared to US$341 million (SAR1.280 billion) in 2022. By the end of 2023, the number...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - The EU on Friday used new regulatory powers to query Meta about ad-free subscriptions to Facebook and Instagram as well as claims some voices are suppressed online in a phenomenon known as "shadow banning". The European Commission made a request for information under the mammoth content moderation law known...

The bank achieved a Return on Equity of 27.1 percent.