DUBAI // Reducing costs and renegotiating debt is a bitter pill for any company to swallow. But such unpleasant medicine seems to have worked for the investment bank Gulf Finance House (GFH), which has managed to reduce its losses by about 80 per cent. The lender, which at one point last year had run out of cash to pay its debts, posted first-quarter earnings on Sunday after the market closed.
It said net loss for the period had shrunk to US$7.5 million (Dh27.5m), from a net loss of $37.7m for the first three months of last year. The achievement is more pronounced when compared with the final quarter of last year, when the company reported a net loss of $607m, including provisions and a $32m operating loss. The company has attributed its relative success to drastic restructuring, which saw it cut operating costs by 45 per cent in the first quarter.
"The result … shows that management has taken the necessary steps to reposition for a return to profitability in the near term," Esam Janahi, the chairman of GFH, said in the earnings report posted on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) website. Investors certainly appreciated the new managerial policies. GFH stocks, which are listed on three regional exchanges, rose sharply yesterday. It was the top gainer on the DFM and Bahrain's bourse, rising 8.9 to 74.8 fils and 7.9 per cent to 20.5 US cents, respectively. And on the Kuwait Stock Exchange it was the third biggest gainer, up 9.6 per cent to 57 Kuwaiti fils.
"It was good turnaround by GFH and investors have wasted no time in pricing in the good news," said Ali Khan, a director at Arqaam Capital in Dubai. Mr Khan said the stock had hit its lowest for several years before yesterday's rises. GFH is in the middle of a sweeping reorganisation under Ted Pretty, its acting chief executive. In March, the company reached an agreement with creditors to delay the repayment of a $100m Islamic loan. It has also reached an agreement with a syndicate of 32 banks on a separate $300m loan under which it has agreed to pay off $200m, while delaying the repayment of the rest for six months.
The company is also looking to raise $250m from sales of assets. skhan@thenational.ae
Series info
Test series schedule 1st Test, Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs; 2nd Test, Dubai: Play starts at 2pm, Friday-Tuesday
ODI series schedule 1st ODI, Dubai: October 13; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 16; 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 18; 4th ODI, Sharjah: October 20; 5th ODI, Sharjah: October 23
T20 series schedule 1st T20, Abu Dhabi: October 26; 2nd T20, Abu Dhabi: October 27; 3rd T20, Lahore: October 29
Tickets Available at www.q-tickets.com
Stat Fourteen Fourteen of the past 15 Test matches in the UAE have been decided on the final day. Both of the previous two Tests at Dubai International Stadium have been settled in the last session. Pakistan won with less than an hour to go against West Indies last year. Against England in 2015, there were just three balls left.
Key battle - Azhar Ali v Rangana Herath Herath may not quite be as flash as Muttiah Muralitharan, his former spin-twin who ended his career by taking his 800th wicket with his final delivery in Tests. He still has a decent sense of an ending, though. He won the Abu Dhabi match for his side with 11 wickets, the last of which was his 400th in Tests. It was not the first time he has owned Pakistan, either. A quarter of all his Test victims have been Pakistani. If Pakistan are going to avoid a first ever series defeat in the UAE, Azhar, their senior batsman, needs to stand up and show the way to blunt Herath.
EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE
Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)
Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1
Kuwait: November 15 (from September 16)
Mumbai: January 1 (from October 27)
Ahmedabad: January 1 (from October 27)
Colombo: January 2 (from January 1)
Muscat: March 1 (from December 1)
Lyon: March 1 (from December 1)
Bologna: March 1 (from December 1)
Source: Emirates
The Case For Trump
By Victor Davis Hanson
Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
