Dubai attracts property investors again

Dubai has again started attracting wealthy Pakistanis, who are fed up with the deteriorating law and order situation at home. — File Photo

KARACHI: Dubai has again started attracting wealthy Pakistanis, who are fed up with the deteriorating law and order situation at home and disappointed with the depressive economic growth.

Property dealers, bankers and exchange companies said millions of dollars had been transferred to Dubai during a year, while dozens of Pakistanis left the country fearing loss of life and property.ve this city to protect their life and property.

‘Debt talks with Dubai firm delayed’

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s PT Bakrieland Development, the Bakrie Group’s property arm, said on Wednesday that talks with a Dubai property firm over a $110 million strategic investment have been postponed again.

Bakrieland in 2008 agreed to sell a 30 per cent stake in its subsidiary, PT Bakrie Swasakti Utama, to Dubai World’s property arm, Limitless Holding, for $110 million but so far, the Dubai company has only paid $37 million.

Debt plan well received: Dubai finance chief

DUBAI: Dubai’s proposed $9.5 billion plan to address its embattled conglomerate Dubai World’s debt crisis has been well received, Dubai’s finance chief was quoted as saying on Friday.

Abdulrahman al Saleh, director general of the Dubai finance department, said in remarks to be aired in a television interview that the initial response was a “preliminary indication that the plan would be accepted”.

Dubai World asks for up to eight years to pay off debt

  














 Troubled group gets $9.5bn bailout from Dubai govt

DUBAI: Dubai World proposed on Thursday to repay its creditors in full by issuing two tranches of new debt maturing in five and eight years, after months of talks on restructuring sovereign liabilities that had rattled world markets.

The announcement came shortly after the government of Dubai committed to pump up to 9.5 billion dollars in further support for the troubled group, helping the emirate’s main stock market index to a 4.5 per cent rise by midday

Dubai's port firm seeking stock listing in London

DUBAI: Dubai's port operator said it plans to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange, aiming for additional investors as its troubled parent Dubai World struggles to dig out from a pile of debt.

DP World said it could seek the listing as early as the second quarter of 2010. The cargo handler ranks as one of the world's biggest container terminal operators, running the Middle East's largest port in Dubai and 48 other seaports around the world.

Japan firms owed $7.5b by Dubai: report

TOKYO: Japan's non-financial firms had some 7.5 billion dollars in uncollected bills from the Dubai government and its affiliated firms as of the end of October, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

The data, excluding bank loans, was derived from a total of 18 projects worth about 15 billion dollars and involving Japanese general contractors, trading houses and electric machinery manufacturers, the daily said.

Saudi oil chief says Gulf economy ‘strong’

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s oil minister told a Dubai conference Wednesday that Gulf economies remain strong, even as the emirate’s stock market spiralled downwards over debt default fears.

‘I want to emphasise that the overall economy of the Gulf region as a whole remains strong,’ Ali al-Naimi told the fourth Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association Forum.

‘One of the fundamentals of our region’s economic strength is the industry convened here for this forum — petrochemicals and chemicals,’ he added.

Emaar cancels merger with Dubai Holding

DUBAI: Dubai’s debt woes spread from the stock market to the corporate sector on Wednesday, with giant property developer Emaar cancelling plans to merge with state-owned Dubai Holding, describing the link-up as unfeasible.

‘The board of directors has decided on Wednesday not to go ahead with the plan to merge the company with Dubai Holding, which was announced a few months ago,’ a brief statement said.

‘Studies have proven that the plan to merge is economically unfeasible at the moment,’ added the statement, without saying why.

Dubai debt concerns spread beyond Dubai World

Thursday, December 10, 2009
DUBAI: Fears that Dubai’s debt problems are not limited to troubled state conglomerate Dubai World battered investor confidence in the world’s top oil-exporting region and sent Gulf shares tumbling on Wednesday.

Investors have been left in the dark since the Gulf business hub announced on Nov 25 that it sought to delay payment on Dubai World debt while it overhauls the sprawling state firm, which builds and operates everything from ports to luxury flats.

Dubai stocks still sliding as debt crisis ‘spreads’

DUBAI: Dubai share prices were battered again in Wednesday trading, falling 6.48 per cent as the Financial Times reported the Gulf emirate is struggling to halt the spread of an alarming debt crisis.
 
The Dubai Financial Market’s main index was trading down 106.12 points at 1,531.93 shortly after midday (0800 GMT), while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange had lost 2.41 per cent to be at 2,477.65 points.

‘The credit downgrades of Dubai’s government-owned companies have triggered an accelerated payment clause on a 2.0-billion-dollar debt issued by the emirate’s utilities provider,’ said a front-page report in the Financial Times.

Dubai’s debt travails

Dubai is in trouble. The pearl of the Persian Gulf whose fame and fortune washed distant shores is suddenly losing its lustre. Dubai World, a major investment company in Dubai and the jewel in the city-state’s crown, has run up an astounding $60bn debt.
 
The conglomerate is unable to meet its scheduled debt repayments and has sought a suspension. So much for its boast that ‘the sun never sets on Dubai World’. Dubai World claims to be one of the largest holding companies in the world, with its investment portfolio spreading across 100 cities and encompassing industries and sectors ranging from ports management, property development, hospitality and tourism, free -zone operations and private equity investment.

Emaar shares plunge as UAE markets take fresh tumble

Tuesday, December 08, 2009
DUBAI: Shares in Dubai’s giant property developer Emaar dropped the maximum-allowed 10 per cent on Monday as stocks in the United Arab Emirates took a fresh tumble over Dubai’s debt woes.

The Dubai exchange slumped 5.84 per cent and Abu Dhabi’s market dropped 1.68 per cent, after both on Sunday had recovered some of the heavy losses they sustained last week. Emaar, developer of the world’s tallest building, Burj Dubai, led the downward charge on the Dubai Financial Market.

Dubai debt crisis shows ‘fragile’ investor confidence

Tuesday, December 08, 2009
GENEVA: Investor confidence remains “fragile” despite the improving global economy, the Bank for International Settlements said on Monday, highlighting the nervous reaction of markets to Dubai’s debt woes.

“From early September to late November, a steady stream of mostly positive macroeconomic news reassured investors that the global economy had in fact turned around, but investor confidence remained fragile,” the BIS in its latest quarterly overview on financial markets,

Saudi investors shrug off Dubai debt crisis

RIYADH: Saudi stocks closed down one per cent on Saturday as investors shrugged off neighbouring Dubai’s debt crisis in the first trading day on the Riyadh market in nearly two weeks.

The Gulf’s largest equities market sank 2.3 per cent when trading opened for the first time after the Eid al-Adha holiday break, but recovered and was off only 1.06 per cent at the close.

The main TASI index fell to 6,288.27 from 6355.82 at its last closing on November 25, the day state-owned conglomerate Dubai World said it was asking to suspend payments on 59 billion dollars in debt.