Shuaa Capital was once known as the UAE's biggest investment bank, but it has been four years since it turned an annual profit. In that time it has accumulated losses of almost Dh2 billion (US$544.4 million) - or about twice as much as it made in the previous four years.
The travails of the company, which generated just Dh6.8m of revenue from its investment banking operation last year, chronicles the Catch-22 of the regional industry, whose fortunes have been so closely tied to the ebb and flow of local stock markets - which have offered more ebb than flow for the past three years.
Shuaa hopes to turn its ailing business around by focusing on areas where it believes it has a market advantage - asset management, corporate advisory, small and medium enterprise finance and institutional brokerage.
That will involve more job losses at the firm. Some 55 jobs will go in the first half, mainly from its brokerage business as it embarks on what it describes as a "right-sizing programme".
With little prospect of a substantial rebound in equity markets, and with it a flood of new share sales, the question for Shuaa and other regional investment banks is what the right size should be.
* Sean Cronin
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Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
Tips for entertaining with ease
· Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.
· As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.
· Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.
· Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.
· The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.
· You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.
Scoreline
Bournemouth 2
Wilson 70', Ibe 74'
Arsenal 1
Bellerin 52'
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
New Zealand T20 squad
New Zealand T20 squad: Tim Southee (captain), Finn Allen, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wicketkeeper), Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Will Young
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