Real Estate Abu Dhabi developer Aldar reports $520m first quarter profit Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi’s largest real estate developer, has reported a rise in first-quarter profits driven by sales to international buyers. Net profit after tax increased 22 percent year on year to AED1.9 billion ($520 million). Revenue was up 39 percent to AED7.8 billion. Overseas investors and expatriates living in the UAE accounted for AED7.4 […] April 29, 2025
Aviation ‘I expect more Europeans to come’: Etihad chief shrugs off tariffs Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways is not seeing any effects from the turmoil caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, its CEO Antonoaldo Neves told Reuters on Monday, while adding it was too early to fully gauge the impact of the levies. Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on dozens of US trading partners this month […] April 29, 2025
Banking & Finance First Abu Dhabi Q1 profit rises by nearly a quarter First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) reported an increase in profits in the first quarter of this year, fuelled by higher revenue from its retail, wholesale and investment banking segments. FAB’s net profit rose 23 percent to AED5.1 billion ($1.4 billion) in the January to March period, while revenue saw an 11 percent growth to AED8.8 […] April 29, 2025
Finance Adia invests in IPO of India’s Ather Energy The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) is among investors in the initial public offering of Indian electric scooter maker Ather Energy. Ather, India’s fourth-largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer, is seeking to raise around $360 million to fund expansion. The proceeds will be used to build a new manufacturing facility in the central western Indian state of […] April 29, 2025
Adnoc to raise $1.5bn with Islamic bonds Abu Dhabi state oil giant Adnoc will raise $1.5 billion from a debut sale of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, according to a document seen by Reuters on Monday. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, acting through its primary debt capital markets entity Adnoc Murban, is selling the sukuk at 60 basis points over US Treasuries, the […] April 29, 2025
Real Estate Value of Abu Dhabi property deals up by a third in Q1 Abu Dhabi recorded strong real estate activity in the first quarter of 2025 as property deal value grew by around a third annually to AED25 billion ($7 billion) across 6,896 transactions. The value of sales and purchases rose 27 percent to AED15.5 billion, while the volume grew by 11 percent to 3,819, according to the […] April 28, 2025
Artificial Intelligence Abu Dhabi AI chief bullish over future investment Investment in artificial intelligence is at “a crossroads” as the build-out of underlying infrastructure, such as data centres, demands trillions of dollars more in capital, according to Abu Dhabi’s technology fund MGX. Ali Osman, MGX’s chief investment officer for AI, said on Friday that he remains optimistic about “tremendous” growth in this space even amid […] April 25, 2025
Trade US-driven trade war forces Mubadala to change ‘assumptions’ Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company said it will take more time to consider its investments and is changing its “base case assumptions” against the backdrop of heightened global trade tensions driven by the US. The fund, which has more than $300 billion of assets under management in over 50 countries around the […] April 25, 2025
Finance First Abu Dhabi among banks for Adani’s $750m loan India’s Adani Group is in discussions with a group of lenders including First Abu Dhabi (FAB) bank to secure a loan of as much as $750 million for its airport division. The other lenders are Barclays and Standard Chartered Bank, Bloomberg reported this week, without identifying its sources. The funds raised will be used to […] April 25, 2025
People & Lifestyle Starzplay reports record growth driven by AI Abu Dhabi-backed streaming platform Starzplay said it made record revenue last year, passing $100 million for the first time, supported by “artificial intelligence content discovery.” In 2022, the Abu Dhabi-based ADQ and a unit of federal telecommunications company e& (formerly Etisalat) bought a majority stake in Starzplay for $420 million. Since then revenue at the […] April 24, 2025
Banking & Finance Mubadala and Fortress form $1bn private credit partnership Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company has entered into a $1 billion strategic partnership with New York-based Fortress Investment Group to invest in private credit, the companies said on Thursday. Private credit has expanded in recent years, attracting investments from some of the world’s largest asset managers, as stricter regulations make it more expensive for traditional lenders to finance riskier […] April 24, 2025
Banking & Finance ADIB profit up 18% on increased lending and fee income Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) reported a double-digit growth in net profit for the first quarter, on the back of an increase in lending and income from fees and commissions. The bank, which is ranked by Forbes as the Middle East’s 12th most valuable lender, reported a net profit after tax of AED1.7 billion ($463 […] April 24, 2025
Oil & Gas Adnoc strikes another LNG deal with Chinese energy major China National Offshore Oil Corporation (Cnooc) has agreed a term deal to buy liquefied natural gas from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), according to two Chinese trading sources and a state media report. It is the third supply contract Adnoc has signed with Chinese buyers recently, following the deals over the weekend with ENN […] April 22, 2025
Artificial Intelligence Khazna builds data centres to plug UAE capacity shortage State-controlled Khazna, the UAE’s largest data centre operator, has started building two new facilities to support the federation’s digital and artificial intelligence (AI) growth as the Gulf state grapples with a capacity shortage. Originally owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, Khazna was in 2022 transferred to the emirate’s G42 and e&, the national […] April 22, 2025
Banking & Finance Fractional sukuk platform launched by UAE bank Sukuk investing in the Gulf has long been the preserve of institutional and wealthy investors because of a six-figure minimum investment threshold, effectively excluding ordinary people from buying sharia-compliant bonds directly. Now though, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) has launched an investment platform, Smart Sukuk, on which retail investors can buy so-called fractional sukuk for […] April 22, 2025
Infrastructure More suitors vie for Abu Dhabi’s district cooling business KKR and I Squared Capital are among global asset managers bidding for a district cooling business owned by Abu Dhabi’s Multiply Group, part of a $1.5 trillion empire overseen by one of the UAE’s most powerful sheikhs. District cooling plants, which deliver chilled water via insulated pipes to cool offices, industrial and residential buildings, have […] April 21, 2025
Oil & Gas Chinese energy companies sign LNG deals with Adnoc China’s privately controlled ENN Natural Gas and state-run Zhenhua Oil have each signed deals to buy liquefied natural gas from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). ENN Natural Gas said on its official WeChat account on Saturday that the deal covers annual supplies of about 1 million metric tonnes for 15 years, marking Adnoc’s largest LNG […] April 21, 2025
Oil & Gas Adnoc on shortlist to buy Shell South Africa fuel stations Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has been shortlisted to acquire Shell’s fuel stations and other downstream assets in South Africa for as much as $1 billion. Shell’s portfolio in South Africa includes about 600 fuel stations and local trading operations, Bloomberg reported, without identifying its sources. Shell has appointed Rothschild to run the sale […] April 18, 2025
Banking & Finance Abu Dhabi investor buys $25m in Trump crypto coins DWF Labs, an investment company based in Abu Dhabi, has bought $25 million of a cryptocurrency linked to Donald Trump. The company describes itself as a next-generation Web3 investor and cryptocurrency trader. Web3 includes concepts such as decentralisation, blockchain technologies and token-based economics. It said in a statement that it bought $25 million of World […] April 17, 2025
Education Education sector in UAE ripe for more M&A deals Mubadala is the latest big name to announce a foray into the UAE’s $7 billion education market as experts predict an increase in mergers and acquisitions in the sector, fuelled by the Gulf state’s rising population, economic diversification and expatriate demand. The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund has more than $300 billion in assets under […] April 17, 2025
Banking & Finance Warburg Pincus and Adia to invest $877m in Indian bank India’s IDFC First Bank will raise up to 75 billion rupees ($877 million) from affiliate companies of private equity group Warburg Pincus and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund, the lender said on Thursday. IDFC First Bank will issue Warburg Pincus, an existing investor, and Adia convertible shares, which, if fully converted, will give them a combined 15 percent […] April 17, 2025
Sustainability Real-time pollution tracking to help clear the air in Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi has invited companies to bid for a contract to develop a “digital twin” focused on real-time monitoring of air quality in a desert region that is among the dustiest in the world. A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system designed to accurately reflect a physical object, in this […] April 16, 2025
