Sun, 01 Aug 2010 09:56:52 +0400 Oman's Investment Stabilisation Fund dips in Q2 Oman's Investment Stabilisation Fund, set up last year as a joint public-private sector initiative to help bolster the stock market, had declined by 0.8% to a net asset value of OR1.178 per unit during the second quarter ended June 30, 2010, Oman Daily Observer has reported. As of June 30, 2010, the fund held a total of 110.920 million units with a net asset value of OR130.638m.

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:39:48 +0400 Egypt GDP grows 5.9% in last quarter The Egyptian government has said the country's economic growth had accelerated to an annualised 5.9% in the three months to end-June, Reuters has reported. "This indicates a near full recovery from the global crisis and a return to the path of rapid economic growth similar to the period before the global crisis," economic development minister Osman Mohamed Osman said in a statement. Gross domestic product for the financial year to end-June grew 5.3%, faster than the 4.7 % growth in 2008/09. Egyptian growth hit a record 7.2% in 2007/08 before the global downturn curbed tourism, foreign direct investment and Suez Canal revenues in the Arab world's most populous country.

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:38:26 +0400 Kuwait gets more time to study Dar debt plan Kuwait's Investment Dar has said a Kuwaiti court has granted the country's central bank four more months to submit a report on the Islamic investment firm's debt restructuring plan, Reuters has reported. Dar, which has been trying to restructure about KD1bn of debt, applied in March for support under a government facility set up for troubled companies as part of a debt restructuring.

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:32:31 +0400 Dubai Investments Q2 profit drops 32% Dubai Investments, the largest investment company listed on the Dubai Financial Market, reported a 32% decline in second-quarter profit as investment income dropped. Net income fell to Dhs196.3m ($53m) from Dhs287m a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Income from sale of goods and services fell 1.8% to Dhs309.4m, while contract revenue rose 30% to Dhs213.8m. Dubai Investments wrote down the value of its investments by 49.7 million dirhams in the quarter, while it had a profit of 53 million dirhams a year ago, the results showed. has said it has started with the process of launching an initial public offering for its subsidiary, M'Sharie, by next year. "The company has already initiated processes for the M'Sharie IPO planned for 2011 and is in active discussions with local stock exchanges. The IPO of M'Sharie will result in raising liquidity and will provide a platform for future growth," Khalid Bin Kalban, DI managing director and CEO said. The conglomerate has reported net profit of Dhs474m for the first half of this year with total income at Dhs1.67bn.

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:13:59 +0400 Bahraini investment firm shut down Bahrain-based Gulf International Investment has been shut down by authorities over alleged violations, Gulf Daily News has reported. Authorities did not provide details on whether the closure was temporary or permanent. GII is an investment firm that raises funds from retail investors for real estate and private equity projects mostly in the GCC region.