News
Commercial Bank of Qatar (CBQ) will ask shareholders on Nov. 16 to approve a 1.5 billion riyals ($412 million) rights issue, the Gulf state’s third-largest lender by assets said yesterday. The lender, which had announced on Sunday that it would seek approval for a capital increase of up to 17 percent, said in yesterday’s bourse filing that it intends to offer 58.8 million new shares at 25.5 riyals each. That would equate to increasing total share capital to 3.85 billion riyals, representing an 18 percent capital hike, Reuters calculations show. The bank said that shareholders would be allowed to buy one new share for every 5.5 held but gave no indication when it hopes to launch the proposed issue.
Dubai govt picks HSBC to arrange airport financing
The government of Dubai has chosen HSBC to arrange initial funding of $3 billion towards the expansion of Al-Maktoum International Airport, according to a statement on UAE state news agency WAM. The financing will be raised by a consortium of Dubai state entities, comprising of the Department of Finance, state-owned fund Investment Corporation of Dubai, and the Dubai Aviation City Corporation. The funds will come from a variety of sources and will include conventional and Islamic tranches, the statement added. Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid alMaktoum in September 2014 approved a $32 billion investment to expand the emirate’s second airport, with an aim to handle up to 120 million passengers a year by 2022.
Kuwait’s oil exports to Japan up 33.7%
Kuwait’s crude oil exports to Japan in September surged 33.7 percent from a year earlier to 6.83 million barrels, or 228,000 barrels per day (bpd), up for the second straight month, government data showed. As Japan’s fifthbiggest oil provider, Kuwait supplied 7.0 percent of the Asian nation’s total crude imports, the Japanese Natural Resources and Energy Agency said in a preliminary report. Japan’s overall imports of crude oil edged down 0.8 percent year-on-year to 3.24 million bpd for the third consecutive month of fall. Shipments from the Middle East accounted for 87.1 percent of the total, up 3.4 percentage points from the year before.
Kuwait oil price down $1.10 to $44.51 pb
The price of Kuwaiti oil went down Monday by $1.10 to $44.51 per barrel after being at $45.61 pb last Friday, said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) yesterday. In world markets, oil prices plunged due to fears that OPEC members would not commit to cutting down production agreed upon in full and due to objections by a number of countries. The price of future contracts of the Brent crude went down 29 cents to $49.42 per barrel, the same case with the West Texas Intermediate which went down 23 cents to $48.47 pb.
US dollar stable against KD at 0.303
The exchange rate of the US dollar was stable against the Kuwaiti dinar at 0.303, the same case with the euro which stood at KD 0.332 compared to Monday’s rates, said the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) yesterday. The CBK said that the rate of the Sterling Pound rose to KD 0.370, the Swiss Franc was at KD 0.306. The rate of the Japanese Yen was unchanged at KD 0.002.