Several regional companies published positive fourth-quarter earnings.
In 2014, UAE companies, led by Emirates and Etihad, invested $163 million in shirt sponsorship, finds new report.
Operating income in the fourth quarter stood at SAR1.995 billion.
The bank cited an increase in operating income, which rose 20 per cent year-on-year, for the profit hike.
Rail projects across the GCC are expected to fuel intra-regional trade while helping reduce fuel consumption.
The investment firm sold the development rights to a plot of land measuring 3.66 million sqm in Qatar’s Lusail City
One of the purchases will be of a financial entity, with the second acquisition coming in the real estate sector.
Industries Qatar fell its daily 10 per cent limit and was the main drag on Qatar’s index, which dropped 2.3 per cent.
The deal was underwritten by Citigroup, Emirates NBD and Societe Generale.
Damac received approval from the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority in December to list on the DFM.
Called “Meem” – the letter M in Arabic – the new retail banking platform will offer personal finance products and credit cards in Saudi Arabia.
The two plants are the second phase of the 500 MW Ouarzazate project, which is part of a government plan to produce two gigawatts of solar power by 2020.
Limitless has been in talks with creditors for nearly a year and in November floated a tentative proposal backed by future cashflows.
DIC has mandated Barclays to explore the options of the possible divestment, sources said.
The transaction was signed at the very end of 2014, sources said.
The company recommended a a cash dividend of 7 riyals ($1.92) per share for 2014.
Pioneers, a financial firm that already owns 25 per cent of Arab Dairy, is in a bidding war with Lactalis for Egypt’s Arab Diary.
Despite an overall decline, Q4 2014 saw growth in total M&A transactions in the Middle East and Africa region.
Dubai’s equities index rose 3.1 per cent while shares in bourse operator Dubai Financial Market surged 6.6 per cent.
If approved, Gulf investors will be allowed to own up to 100 per cent of Drake and Scull’s shares.
The company said that it will pay a dividend of QAR1.1 riyals ($0.30) per share for 2014.
The bank said that it recommended a cash dividend of SAR0.5 per share ($0.13) for the second half of 2014.
The Capital Market Authority said that Saudi British Bank could issue one bonus share for every two shares held.
The minister said on Wednesday that the Oman’s budget assumed oil prices would average $75 per barrel this year.
A possible merger of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange with the Dubai Financial Market has been discussed on and off for years.
The Abu Dhabi and Dubai stock markets have dropped sharply in the past several months as the slide in global oil prices has burst speculative bubbles in equities.
The Abu Dhabi Financial Centre will have its own administration, court system and tax incentives to attract banks and companies from around the world.
Online job postings in Banking, Finance, Services and Insurance (BFSI) saw the largest growth, rising by 27 per cent, the index showed.
Dubai’s bourse, which had suffered more than others and fallen 8.6 per cent this week, added 0.8 per cent in a broad recovery.
Diar, which had been Al Khaliji’s largest shareholders, moved 61.9 million shares in Qatar’s sixth-largest bank to QIA.