Retail Spinneys profit rises 25% on UAE and Saudi expansion UAE supermarket operator Spinneys said net profit attributable rose to AED39.7 million ($10.6 million) in the third quarter, an increase of 25 percent from AED31.8 million a year ago. The profit rise was driven by expansion in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the roll-out of new concepts and the expansion of its e-commerce offerings. Top […] November 8, 2024
Leisure & Hospitality Sotheby’s pins hopes on Saudi auction launch Sotheby’s is to open an office and stage its first auction in Saudi Arabia next year. The new branch will be located in the Faisaliah Tower in the capital Riyadh. The auction will take place on February 8, 2025 in the Unesco World Heritage site of Diriyah. Prior to the auction, an exhibition featuring the […] November 7, 2024
Transport Dubai Taxi revenue up but profit slides Revenue at Dubai Taxi Company, a subsidiary of the emirate’s transport regulator, rose 13 percent year on year to AED1.6 billion ($436 million) in the first nine months of 2024. The company said the result was due to a positive macroeconomic environment, a rise in tourism and population growth. The taxi segment was the primary […] November 7, 2024
Food & Drink Boycotts help send Turkey’s Coca-Cola sales down A boycott of brands seen as supporting Israel in the Middle East has helped bring a double-digit drop in third-quarter sales in Turkey and Pakistan for a Coca-Cola subsidiary. Coca-Cola Icecek (CCI), which is based in Istanbul, said sales in Turkey in Q3 fell 12.2 percent, while sales in Pakistan were down by 22.9 percent. […] November 6, 2024
EXCLUSIVE Business of Sport Roshn seeks contractors for Riyadh World Cup stadium Saudi real estate developer Roshn is inviting expressions of interest from international and local contractors for its 45,000-seat football stadium in Riyadh. Iain McBride, Roshn’s head of commercial, said the Public Investment Fund subsidiary was actively seeking partners “very early in the process” to help “de-risk” the project. “What we don’t want is to design, […] November 6, 2024
Food & Drink Americana CEO says boycott ‘worst is behind us’ Americana Restaurants, the Middle East franchise owner for KFC, Pizza Hut, Krispy Kreme and Hardee’s, believes the company has weathered the worst of the boycott issues it faced this year, which led to a significant slump in its profit. CEO Amarpal Sandhu said it is not predicting a “hockey stick recovery” – a sudden and […] November 5, 2024
Analysis Aviation Gulf air traffic rebounds but fares still high Air traffic in the Middle East and North Africa region has rebounded beyond pre-pandemic levels, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE marking the highest gains in volume. Traffic up to the second quarter of 2024 has also surpassed levels seen before 2020, according to a study by Airports Council International (ACI). Bahrain (+24 percent), Qatar […] November 5, 2024
Retail High demand leads Lulu to upsize IPO stake to 30% Lulu Retail Holdings has increased the size of its initial public offering (IPO) by 5 percent to 30 percent to potentially raise AED6.32 billion ($1.72 billion) on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) following high demand from investors. The retail chain operator in the Middle East initially offered a 25 percent stake sale. The total […] November 5, 2024
Retail Alibaba-backed Trendyol plans $2bn Gulf investment Trendyol, Turkey’s largest ecommerce platform, is to invest $2 billion in the Gulf region over the next three years. The company is backed by Chinese tech giant Alibaba, and has established a presence across all six GCC countries. It has had rapid growth in Saudi Arabia, now its second-largest market, in particular. Its group president, […] November 5, 2024
Tourism Discovery of Bronze Age town reframes Saudi history Al Natah, a walled settlement thought to have housed 500 people, dates back to 2400 BCE November 4, 2024
Construction Huge demand for workers’ accommodation in RAK Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) is adding 40,000 rooms for blue-collar worker accommodation in the next five years, fuelled by the multi-billion dollar Wynn Resorts casino development and thriving construction sector. More than 10,000 rooms have been “fast-tracked” in the last nine months alone, according to Ramy Jallad, group CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone […] November 4, 2024
Opinion Aviation Emirates and the A380: an enduring affair The airline will use the double-decker for another 15 years after planning to retire it November 4, 2024
Banking & Finance Bahrain’s Mumtalakat prizes local investment over global Bahrain’s multi-billion dollar sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat is looking closer to home for investments, prioritising local over international opportunities. Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, minister of finance and national economy at Mumtalakat, said: “What we have found is the most compelling investment opportunities, the highest return on equity investments, are increasingly at home or […] November 4, 2024
Food & Drink Americana opens more stores despite profit slump Quarterly profits at Americana Restaurants have shrunk again, but the Middle East franchise owner for KFC, Pizza Hut and Hardee’s continues to open new stores as its promotional drive spurs a recovery in daily sales. The fast-food brand operator reported a 54 percent drop in profit in the third quarter to $37.4 million, as the […] October 31, 2024
Retail Adnoc Distribution profit falls 20% on lower fuel prices Adnoc Distribution, an Abu Dhabi-listed fuel and convenience retailer, said net profit fell 20 percent year on year to AED667 million ($182 million) in the third quarter of 2024, impacted by lower selling prices due to a fall in crude oil prices. Revenue, however, increased by 2 percent year on year to AED9.1 billion, driven by […] October 31, 2024
Aviation Riyadh Air takes aim at online travel giants Saudi Arabia’s new airline, Riyadh Air, is to compete with global travel companies such as Booking.com and Expedia by developing a one-stop digital platform for customers to plan and manage entire trips. The website will cover flights, accommodation, car rentals, AI-generated itineraries and tickets to attractions and concerts. It will also include shared shopping cart […] October 31, 2024
Real Estate Emaar’s Alabbar eyes major investment in Madagascar Emaar founder Mohamed Alabbar is planning a major investment in Madagascar, marking the island nation as his next big venture. “Madagascar is the next new thing in my life,” Alabbar said at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh on Tuesday. “It’s going to be a very big investment,” he said, but did not provide further […] October 30, 2024
Analysis Tax Turkey targets butchers, bakers and tax law breakers Ankara has opened a new front in its war on tax avoidance, as the Turkish finance minister flags a crackdown on small and medium-scale businesses to help balance the budget and increase transparency. Just weeks after announcing a major offensive against tax avoiders in the corporate world, with hundreds of state auditors to be deployed […] October 30, 2024
Manufacturing Abu Dhabi plans to buy stake in British carmaker McLaren Abu Dhabi-backed CYVN Holdings has entered a non-binding agreement with Mumtalakat Holding, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, to buy a stake in British carmaker McLaren Group, with the potential to take ownership of its automotive business. The partnership aims to bolster McLaren with additional capital, advanced engineering expertise and technology, particularly in electric vehicles (EVs), the companies […] October 30, 2024
Leisure & Hospitality Saudi gym chain Leejam pumps up its profits Leejam Sports Co has reported a net profit of SAR355 million ($94.5 million) for the first nine months of 2024, an increase of 56 percent compared with the same period last year. The Riyadh-based company’s revenue grew 18 percent year on year as subscriptions and membership revenue rose 14 percent, and paid programmes revenue climbed […] October 29, 2024
Aviation Saudia reports 10 percent increase in passengers Saudia, Saudi Arabia’s national flag carrier, transported more than nine million passengers during the third quarter of 2024, a 10 percent increase on the same period last year. Saudia said it operated more than 49,500 flights, a 9 percent increase from last year, with an on-time performance rate of 87.8 percent. Five million of its […] October 29, 2024
Analysis Retail Diwali gold buyers change their approach as prices rise Dhanteras, the first day of Diwali, is seen as an auspicious time to buy gold by the Gulf’s roughly three million Hindus. But as the price of gold hits record levels consumers are shopping differently, gold traders told AGBI. Gold’s price has surged by 34 percent in the past year alone. This trend is being […] October 29, 2024
