Late last night, we confirmed that
Sulaiman al Fahim
, the founding chief executive of
Hydra Properties
,
was replaced by Ali bin Sulayem
. Mr Sulayem was a board member of the
Royal Group
, owned by
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al Nahyan
. Mr al Fahim has
been at the centre of attention
lately for his bid to buy Britain's Portsmouth Football Club and disputes with hundreds of investors over Hydra Villages. Just the other week,
Mr al Fahim announced concessions to investors
, including delayed payment plans and less punishing contracts. Hydra is construing the move as a promotion for Mr al Fahim, who will now take a board member role, but there has been a lot of pressure on the company in the wake of the global financial crisis and property downturn. I guess this means the end of the Hydra Executives TV show, which has been on air since the beginning of the year. It's a beautiful time capsule of an age when you could buy and sell multi-million dirham property with a flyer on a street corner.
The (potential) deal between
Kingdom Holding
and
Emaar Properties
has been sort of like a roller coaster ride. Angela Giuffrida and Sarmad Khan today quote an analyst
saying the lack of proper disclosures a "public relations disaster"
. Emaar's shareprice has lost almost all of the gains it made on Sunday. This morning Kingdom made another statement to the Saudi Arabia bourse, though it doesn't reveal much. See it
here
. See a timeline of what happened in
yesterday's round-up
.
Deyaar Development has cancelled its Enclave project
after refunding all its investors, Parag Deulgaonkar reports in Emirates Business 24/7. Deyaar is
undergoing a major process to reduce untenable projects and lower defaulting buyers
.
Work has started on the Ebony and Ivory towers in Dubai
, which are at the centre of a dispute between a group of investors and a property company.
Vacancy levels for office property in Dubai
is averaging 22 per cent
, Anjana Kumar reports in Emirates Business 24/7.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
The biog
Favourite Emirati dish: Fish machboos
Favourite spice: Cumin
Family: mother, three sisters, three brothers and a two-year-old daughter
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Company%20Profile
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
