Companies News: Ali is Nasdaq Dubai’s new COO

Nasdaq Dubai

Nasdaq Dubai has named Hamed Ali as its chief operating officer, while saying that its chief executive has stepped down to take on another role. Jeff Singer, after four years at the bourse, is moving to the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority, or DIFCA, as its chief executive, Nasdaq Dubai said in an emailed statement. In a separate statement, the DIFCA, a management body that oversees the centre’s strategy and administration, said it is reorganising itself into two independent entities to help drive the financial free zone’s growth plans. Singer has been named the chief executive of its the business development and legislation arm, which will continue to be called the DIFC Authority, and is responsible for developing DIFC’s international relations. Nasdaq Dubai, majority owned by the Dubai Financial Market, said Hamed Ali is returning to the exchange after serving as an executive officer between 2006 and 2008.

Aabar

Aabar Investments will be the cornerstone investor in Al Izz Islamic Bank as Oman seeks to tap demand for Sharia-complaint products. Al Izz is under formation and getting ready for an initial public offering, the bank said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. Oman approved the creation of its first two Islamic banks last year, Al Izz in October and Bank Nizwa in May. Aabar, Huriah Company LLC and Tasameem Real Estate Company LLC are promoters of Al Izz, according to the statement.

The shares of Bank Nizwa jumped 13 per cent when they began trading on Oman’s stock exchange on June 10. The bank will start operations in the third quarter, according to its website. Prior to Bank Nizwa and Al Izz, Oman was the only country in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council without dedicated Islamic banks. Bank assets that comply with Shariah’s ban on paying and receiving interest may account for a 10th of the industry’s total within 12 months of starting services, Hilal Al Barwani, vice president of banking supervision at the Central Bank of Oman said in January.

The move into Sharia-complaint finance will give banks in the country, home to almost three million people, the chance to tap growth in the global Islamic finance industry. Sharia financing is expanding as much as 16 per cent a year and the industry may be valued at $1.5 trillion by the end of 2012, Raj Mohammad, managing director at Singapore-based consulting firm Five Pillars Pte, said Jan. 18.

Investcorp

Bahrain-based investment company Investcorp said its full-year net income fell by more than half because of lower returns on its investment portfolio. Despite a 20 per cent recovery in fee income, the company’s net income for the 12 months to June 30 shrank to $67.4 million, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. That compared with net income of $140.3 million for the prior-year period. “Net income was down due to a fall in asset based income primarily due to the European crisis,” Investcorp said.”Fee income, however, was up 20 per cent year on year due to strong acquisition and placement activity.”Total assets at the end of June 2012 slipped to $2.7 billion from $2.9 billion in the previous fiscal year. Liabilities also decreased, from $1.8 billion to $1.7 billion, while Investcorp’s capital adequacy ratio increased to 26.9 per cent. Investcorp, which previously took luxury brands Gucciand Tiffany & Co public, said it proposed a dividend of $7.50 per ordinary share plus a 12 per cent dividend on preference shares. In June, Investcorp signed up to a $504 million-equivalent loan designed to refinance debt due in 2013. The company has closed fourteen private equity deals since the financial crisis in 2008, out of which five deals where closed through its Gulf Opportunity Fund in the Middle East and North Africa.

Equate Petrochemical Co

Equate Petrochemical Co., a venture between Petrochemical Industries Co. of Kuwait and Dow Chemical Co. (DOW), said it controlled earlier Tuesday a limited fire at one of its industrial units. “The fire, caused by a leak in one part of the industrial units, was put out quickly,” the firm said in a statement posted on its website. The incident did not lead to any human casualties and production has not been affected, it added. Equate produces over 5 million metric tons per year of high-quality petrochemical products, which it exports to the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.

Qtel

Qatar Telecom, or Qtel, said on Tuesday its net profit in the second quarter fell 11.3 per cent on year, missing most analysts expectations due to foreign exchange losses and weaker earnings at some of its units. The telco, one of the largest operators in the region, made a net profit of 641 million Qatari riyals ($176 million), down from 722 million riyals a year earlier, Qtel said in an emailed statement. The result fell short of Deutsche Bank’s expectation of 717.5 million riyals in net profit and JP Morgan’s forecast of 703 million riyals. “Net profit for the period was impacted by adverse foreign exchange movement in Indonesia and Algeria. The operational results, excluding foreign exchange impact, showed growth of around 9 per cent,” Qtel said in the statement. While Qatar, Tunisia, Iraq and Algeria maintained positive momentum from the previous quarter, Kuwait’s results have been negatively impacted by heightened competition during the period, Qtel said. “Following the already reported weaker-than expected results from Wataniya and Nawras, Qtel’s group results are mainly supported by its domestic operations and Asiacell,” analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove said. The telco’s revenues for the quarter amounted to 8.36 billion riyals, up 4.6 per cent from the year before period. Subscribers across all its operations at the end of June hit 83.7 million, an increase of 8 per cent on year, according to the statement.

— Compiled from agencies