Shuaa considers bond buyback

Dubai: Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital is considering buying back a convertible bond issue worth Dh1.5 billion ($408.5 million) or altering the price at which the bonds would be converted into shares.

The bank said in a statement yesterday that it had extended a deadline for an agreement with the Dubai Banking Group over the bond issue until June 4.

Shuaa and Dubai Banking Group have been at odds over the bond issue for months. Dubai Banking Group recently dropped its demand that it have majority representation on the bank's board of directors once the bonds are converted, according to the Shuaa statement. Shuaa said in the statement that it intended to reach a deal with the Dubai Banking Group in order to avoid a legal dispute.

Calyon, the investment banking unit of Credit Agricole, wants to expand into Egypt but will wait until market conditions improve, its Middle East head said on Tuesday.

"There's a lot of domestic M&A [mergers and acquisitions] business that we can capture there, along with the link to Africa," Albert Momdjian, Calyon managing director and head of Middle East and Africa investment banking, told reporters. The expansion would come in the form of a joint venture with Credit Agricole's commercial banking entity in Egypt, Momdjian said.

Daman Investments PSC has announced the performance results of the Daman Second Emirates Fund, Daman Islamic Fund, and Daman Speculator Fund for April 2009. The Daman Second Emirates Fund recorded a Net Asset Value of Dh43.45 per unit, a rise of 0.48 per cent, outperforming the NBAD General Index at -0.47 per cent.

The Daman Islamic Fund dropped 0.64 per cent at an NAV of Dh43.06. The Daman Speculator Fund closed the month with a drop of 1.87 per cent but posted an improved annualised dividend yield of 2.94 per cent at the end of March 2009 against 2.89 per cent in 2008.

The National Investor announced that it achieved net profits of Dh6 million for the year ended March 31 despite a substantial drop in revenues as a result of the global economic crisis. During the year, the firm strengthened its balance sheet by optimising its capital structure and maintaining high levels of liquidity.

Etisalat Academy announced that the first batch of 13 young technicians from the planned 60 have completed training and have secured jobs as Fibre-to-the-Home Technicians with Tamdeed Projects. The Etisalat Academy and Tamdeed Projects plan to train and recruit a total of sixty technicians who will be given a chance to begin a career in the telecommunications sector.

The training programme took seven days to complete and consisted of continual assessment of both theoretical and practical work, culminating in an exam. The training takes place at the Etisalat Academy, Dubai. The Etisalat Academy and Tamdeed projects are continuing to seek candidates to fill the remaining places.