Commercial Facilities gets buyback approval
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) announces that the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) approved the request of Commercial Facilities Company to buy back 10 % of its issued shares for a period of six months from the date of the approval Nov 24, 2007, provided the company will adhere to CBK's rules and conditions and the provisions of Article 115. Commercial Facilities Company is a Kuwaiti shareholding company established on Jan 16, 1977. The company specializes in consumer finance by providing installment credit facilities for new and used cars, marine equipment, furniture and electrical appliances. The company also offers services such as consumer loans, commercial loans, cash loans and some basic material loans. Commercial Facilities Company offers its services through a number of branches located in Kuwait City, Hawalli, Al Reqai, Fahaheel and Al Jahra.
The Commercial Bank of Qatar, the country's second-biggest lender, aims to almost double its return on assets in the next few years to be the most profitable bank in Qatar. "We want to have the best ratios in Qatar. Our aim is to be No. 1," Deputy Chief Executive Michael Azmi-Loe told Reuters. In a bid to raise its capital adequacy ratio to 14 percent, from 11.8 percent, by 2010, Commercial Bank is looking at capital market instruments, such as global depository receipts (GDR), hybrid bonds, or other tier-two instruments to fund its growth. Commercial Bank is listed on the Doha stock exchange where foreign investors can own up to 25 percent of the bank.
"The regulatory framework in Qatar is changing, which would allow us to use conventional capital instruments that are common in other places of the world to fund our growth," Loe said. The lender, which was formed as Qatar's first private commercial bank, saw its assets swell at a compound annual rate of 51 percent between 2003 and 2006, controlling 17 percent of loans and 16 percent of deposits in the oil-rich country. Now, with total assets of $11.2 billion, equity of $1.6 billion and net income of $277 million in the first nine months, Commercial Bank wants to shift its focus towards quality. Commercial Bank's return on average assets ratio (ROAA) of 3.8 percent for the first nine months of the year ranked fourth among Qatari banks. It wants to reach 6.7 percent. To achieve the best performance ratios in the country also means its return on equity ratio, currently at 26 percent, has to climb to 33 percent, and the cost to income ratio to come down to 16.2 percent from 15.3 percent.
Egypt's South Valley Cement will distribute a dividend of one share for every three shares held, a statement from the stock exchange said on Thursday. The dividend applies to shares held on Oct 31, and will be distributed on Nov 15, according to the statement. South Valley's net profit for the first half of the year surged 168 percent to 217.8 million Egyptian pounds ($39.67 million), the company said in July. Shares of South Valley were down 1.3 percent at 16.76 Egyptian pounds by 1053 GMT.
Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries said on Thursday it will make $372 million from the sale of its 50 percent stake in Egyptian Container Handling Co to Dubai port operator DP World. DP World said on Wednesday it had acquired a 90 percent stake in Egyptian Container Handling for $670 million. Egyptian Container Handling owns a 90 percent stake in Sokhna Port Development Company. Located near the mouth of the Suez Canal, the Sokhna port is expected to have a capacity of 1.2 million 20-foot equivalent units by the end of 2009, DP World had said in a statement. Deutsche Bank advised on the sale, Orascom said in the statement to the Egyptian stock exchange.
Egypt-based Oriental Weavers, which makes machine-woven carpets and rugs, said on Thursday it would buy 1.26 million treasury shares this month. Oriental Weavers said in a statement to Egypt's stock exchange that it would buy the shares between Nov 1 and Nov 29. It did not give further details.
The US dollar fell against the Egyptian pound on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate by 25 points. On the interbank pound/dollar market, the dollar fell to about 5.4850 pounds in the first 40 minutes of trading, from a weighted mid-rate of 5.5144 pounds on Thursday. Two traders said they saw no sign that the Central Bank of Egypt was intervening to prevent the dollar falling.
© Arab Times 2007
