The month that was… May 2015

A good one for:

Aldar: The Abu Dhabi-based property developer reported a 36 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit in May with income boosted by recurring revenue businesses such as retail, hospitality, residential and office rentals.

Emirates Airline: The Dubai-based airline, which is currently embroiled in a subsidy row with three US carriers, also posted a strong 40 per cent jump in annual net profit last month. The profit came on the back of lower oil prices, which helped the company save around Dhs2bn during the financial year ended March 31.

A bad one for:

Saudi Arabian Airlines: The state-run carrier has been fined around $1.6m by a regional Belgian government for violating European Union carbon emission rules. It is the first major non-European Union airline that has been penalised for breaching the region’s aviation law.

Etisalat: The UAE telecoms operator faced a marketing blunder in May after its #Etisalat challenge campaign drew flak from customers on the social media platform Twitter. The campaign challenged customers to find better prices for domestic mobile packages, although the company has just one competitor in the country in du.