Average yield falls on 273-day Egypt T-bills
The average yield on Egyptian 273-day treasury bills fell to 11.641 percent at an auction on Thursday, compared with 11.981 percent at last week s auction.
The central bank said it accepted bids for bills worth LE 3 billion ($539.37 million), the same amount it was seeking. It accepted bids at rates between 11.500 and 11.719 percent, compared to a range of 11.199 to 12.1 percent at the previous auction.
The bills are for issue on Feb. 17 and they mature on Nov. 17, 2009. -Reuters
Russia, Turkey close to mega energy deals: official
Russia and Turkey are close to agreeing energy deals worth billions of dollars under which Moscow will build a nuclear power station and supply electricity for Ankara, a Russian official said on Friday.
During a visit by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said the two sides were nearing agreement on Russia winning the nuclear energy contract worth up to $20 billion.
A consortium led by Russia s Atomstroixport partnership was the sole bidder in the tender launched in September to build a 4,800 megawatt nuclear power plant at Akkuyu on Turkey s Mediterranean coast.
We expect our proposal will be forwarded from the tendering commission to the Turkish government in the near future, Shmatko told reporters, according to Russian news agencies.
According to different estimates, such a project could be worth $18-20 billion, he added.
Turkey plans to build three nuclear power plants in hopes of preventing a possible energy shortage and reducing dependence on foreign supplies. But the project has met with fierce resistance from environmentalists.
Shmatko also said that Russia and Turkey were also discussing a long term contract worth $60 billion over a period of 15 years to supply Russian electricity to Turkey.
The volume of supplies of electricity from Russia to Turkey could reach $60 billion dollars over 15 years, he said.
Russia is already Turkey s biggest trading partner and bilateral trade was worth $37.8 billion last year. Moscow also supplies 63 percent of Turkey s gas and 29 percent of the petrol. -AFP
ADNOC offers April-March naphtha at higher premiums
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) has offered April 2009-March 2010 naphtha supplies at premiums which are six to eight times higher than those fetched for its December 2008-November 2009 contract, traders said on Thursday.
ADNOC pegged its offer for pentane-plus grade at $26.00 a ton premium to Middle East quotes, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, while that for splitter naphtha is at $23.50 a ton premium.
These offers are very high compared to what they were before, said one of the traders, who added that customers have to reply by fax to ADNOC on their decision by Feb. 17.
ADNOC, Asia s third-largest term naphtha supplier after Saudi Aramco and Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC), usually takes its cue from KPC, which sealed its April 2009-March 2010 term premium at $19.00 a ton to Middle East quotes on a FOB basis. -Reuters
Kuwait s Global reaches seized Jordan deposits deal
Kuwait s Global Investment House said on Thursday it had reached an agreement with Jordan s Housing Bank for Trade and Finance to release bank deposits seized by a court over a $13 million loan dispute.
Global, Kuwait s biggest investment bank, said earlier a Jordanian court had halted the operations of its Global Jordan unit and seized its deposits in local banks after a dispute over a loan from Housing Bank.
Global said in a statement the firm had reached an agreement with the bank and that it hoped Jordan s regulator would lift the suspension on Sunday.
Global said last month it had defaulted on most of its debts as investment firms in the oil producer suffer from a global credit crisis.
Shares of Global, which have slumped more than 50 percent this year, tumbled 5.43 percent on Thursday.
At the end of 2008, Global had total liabilities of $3.1 billion after defaulting on a $200-million loan in mid-December, Executive Vice-president Bader al-Sumait told Al Arabiya television this week.
The size of Global s portfolio in Jordan was about $900 million in September. – AFP
Emirates NBD 2008 net fell seven percent – Lead
Emirates NBD bank said on Thursday its 2008 net profit fell by seven percent on the back of huge writedowns, while its fourth quarter net income dropped by a massive 99 percent.
Net income was 3.68 billion dirhams ($1 billion) compared with 3.95 billion dirhams ($1.076 billion) in 2007.
Total revenues rose 19 percent to 8.5 billion dirhams.
The bank s fourth quarter profits dropped to a meager 14 million dirhams in the last three months of 2008 from around 1.3 billion dirhams a year earlier.
Writedowns and impairments on investment and other securities totaled 2.26 billion dirhams, reflecting market-wide devaluation of equity and fixed income markets and increased market risk premiums, the bank said.
The lender was created in October 2007 from the merger of two leading Dubai-based banks – Emirates Bank International and National Bank of Dubai.
The comparative results were prepared on a pro forma basis, which assumed that the merger occurred on Jan. 1, 2007.
Emirates NBD said total assets increased 11 percent to 282.4 billion dirhams ($77 billion) at the end of last year from 253.8 billion dirhams ($69.1 billion) a year earlier.
Earnings per share were 0.73 dirhams (20 cents) while return on shareholders equity was 19.1 percent. -AFP
