Dubai: Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital posted a net loss of Dh197.9 million ($53.88 million) in the first quarter as it booked losses on investments.

"Despite significant efforts to enhance profitability through cost-cutting measures, and focus on growing our fee businesses, book losses from investments still overshadowed the overall results," the company said in a statement.

Shuaa Capital's private equity, asset management and finance businesses were all profitable in the quarter, it said, but its investment banking unit, brokerage and corporate segment, which controls all cash related to the group, posted losses in the period.

The investment bank said total assets stood at Dh3.8 billion and said it had over Dh400 million in cash and deposits with banks. Clients' funds under management stood at Dh4.5 billion, down from Dh4.7 billion in the previous quarter. Shuaa Capital made a net profit of Dh67.08 million in the first quarter of 2008.

Ajman Bank, the emirate's first Islamic commercial bank, released its first quarter financial results to the Dubai Financial Market yesterday. It showed a very strong liquidity position of over Dh1.2 billion. The lender expects an initial loss due to disproportionate levels of investment versus revenue building. Nevertheless, the bank said its assets reached Dh1.34 billion in less than two months of operations.

First Gulf Bank has officially announced the upgrading of its Singapore representative office to a wholesale branch. A ceremony to mark the occasion was attended by Lee Yi Shyan, Singapore's Minister of State, Trade, Industry and Manpower, Abdul Hamid Saeed, Managing Director of FGB, and André Sayegh, Chief Executive Officer.

The board of directors of National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) will convene on Wednesday, at 9.30am to discuss the preliminary unaudited financial statements for the first quarter of 2009. The board will also take up reforming various committees of the board and will review the company's projects and other business.

Commercial Bank of Kuwait posted a 90.8 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit, the lender said on Saturday. Net profit in the first three months to March 31 came in at 3.14 million dinars ($10.77 million) compared with 34.1 million dinars in the same period a year earlier, CBK told the Kuwait Stock Exchange. The bank did not give a reason for the decline nor did it say if it booked any provisions in the first quarter. Analysts at EFG-Hermes expected net profit of 24 million dinars, according to a Reuters survey in April.

Bahrain National Holding Company, the parent of Bahrain National Insurance and Bahrain National Life Assurance, has announced a net profit of 798,000 dinars ($2.12 million) after charging 234,000 dinars ($0.62 million) for investment portfolio impairment. This compares with 1,097,000 dinars ($2.91 million) for 2008. Total gross premiums for the period reached 7.4 million dinars ($19.63 million), with net earned premiums of 3.2 million dinars ($8.49 million) which is similar to the same period last year. The underwriting profit was 804,000 dinars ($2.13 million) compared to last year's 799,000 dinars ($2.12 million).

Oman's Sohar Aluminium, part-owned by a unit of global miner Rio Tinto, has put the second phase of its plant on hold for now as the company assesses prospects for the metal, its chief executive said yesterday.

Sohar Aluminium, a $2.4 billion joint venture located in Oman's Sohar industrial port, completed the first phase of the project in February and is operating at full production capacity of 360,000 tonnes per year.

"However with regards to our phase two expansion plans which will add another 360,000 tonnes to our capacity, we still don't have a set timeline for that," Sohar Aluminium Chief Executive Bruce Hall told Reuters in a telephone interview.