SAMACO/PORSCHE

SAMACO has opened a new Porsche showroom in Riyadh. Present on the occasion were SAMACO Vice President Mohammad Wajih Sharbatly, Porsche Worldwide Sales Director Dr. Andreas Offermann, Deesch Papke, MD, Porsche MEA, SAMACO CEO Mohammad Raffa, SAMACO Regional Manager Bandar Al Turki, David Matta, GM, and Porsche Saudi Arabia. The inauguration of Porsche showroom in Riyadh opens up a new chapter in the success stories of Porsche and SAMACO, full of monumental achievements and white-glove customer service, crowned by a 25-year long strategic partnership and diligent work to ensure top-notch services to Porsche customers in the Kingdom. Such dedication and effort have powered Porsche Middle East & Africa to a new sales record for the seventh year in a row, exceeding all expectations with a healthy 17 percent increase in total sales. SAMACO set recently a vigorous expansion strategy to keep pace with the Kingdom’s economic growth and meet the high demand for Porsche’s models. Consequently, David Matta was appointed as GM of Porsche Saudi Arabia, in a step to lead the expansion of the group and the roll-out of its new strategy for the Kingdom.

COCA-COLA

The Coca-Cola Company (CCC) board of directors has elected Muhtar Kent as president and chief operating officer effective immediately. He was appointed president of Coca-Cola International (CCI) in February, responsible for the CCC operations in more than 200 countries except North America. With this new role, Kent will have direct responsibility for the implementation of the growth strategies of the CCC and lead all of its operations throughout the world. Kent will also directly lead departments managing the relationship with bottling partners in more than 200 countries, as well as key customers and supply chain. Returning to the CCC, where he started his career 28 years ago, Kent led the company’s impressive growth performance in key markets as president of North Asia, Eurasia and Middle East Group in 2005 and was appointed as president of CCI in February this year. Neville Isdell, CEO, CCC. said: “Kent is very experienced and successful and with him we’ll take the CCC to a future of sustained growth.”

EIIB

European Islamic Investment Bank Plc. (EIIB), the first independent Shariah-compliant Islamic bank to be authorized by the Financial Services Authority in the UK, has appointed Toby Lanyon as GM of its Bahrain office. Lanyon joins EIIB from Nomura Investment Banking in Bahrain where he has been director, head of equity derivatives marketing, Middle East, with specific responsibility for business development, marketing of equity, fund, hedge fund and commodity derivative products throughout the Middle East. Prior to joining Nomura Investment Banking in early 2005, he worked for BNP and BNP Paribas in Bahrain from 1996 where he held a number of roles including responsibility for marketing and product development of equity derivative, cross-product business development for institutional and private clients across the GCC as well as pioneering a range of Shariah-compliant equity derivative products, according to EIIB Managing Director John Weguelin.

GLOBAL

For the second consecutive year, an international hedge fund research company ranks the Global Distressed Fund (GDF) among the world’s top ten from a list comprising over 1,300 competitors, according to a Global Investment House (Global) announcement. Hani Al-Jazzaf, head of Hedge Funds Division at Global, said that EurekaHedge, the world’s largest independent hedge fund research company, ranked the GDF as the sixth best fund of Hedge Funds in the world in terms of returns adjusted for risk from a list of 1,324 similar funds. Including November estimates, the fund has generated an impressive year-to-date return of 11.89 percent, with a sizable 71.09 percent return since inception in October 2002, posting an annualized return of 13.66 percent. This achievement came despite bearish market conditions that the fund initially faced, Al-Jazzaf said, adding that the fund ranked second best Distressed Fund of Hedge Funds in the world in terms of Sharpe Ratio, third in terms of Maximum Loss and fourth in terms of annualized return by EurekaHedge.

ZIIC

Zamil Industrial Investment Company (ZIIC), an international manufacturing and fabrication group focused on growth segments of the global construction industry, supported and participated in the three-day Al Ain Dialogue, which ended in the UAE recently. Organized by the Gulf Society for Organizational Learning (Gulf SoL) and driven by Saudi Aramco, the event discussed and explored ways to create and implement measures to achieve meaningful sustainable development. This is increasingly being seen by many as key to continuing economic diversification efforts and to tackling economic and social challenges in the region. Abdulla Mohammed Al Zamil, ZIIC board director and COO, participated in a session titled ‘Promoting local innovation — regional experiments to enable research and business incubation’. He shared his perspectives on this issue and drew upon his expertise in the context of the activities taking place throughout ZIIC.

KPMG

Economic prosperity in the region has seen many companies grow to levels exceeding the minimum requirements to launch an initial public offering (IPO). A recent report from KPMG Middle East revealed that 80 percent of companies surveyed would do things differently if they were to go through an IPO again, highlighting key challenges to be avoided by regional companies considering going public. “The survey suggests that the main reasons for floating include improved business efficiency, raising startup capital, and increased profile,” said Ashish Dave, head of private equity at KPMG in the Middle East and South Asia. “Yet the extent of company resources required for a successful IPO process is often underestimated. Some 12 percent of CEOs and 24 percent of CFOs spent more than half of their time on the IPO process, and more than a third of companies experienced delays in the planned timetable. However, all companies surveyed believed their IPO met their objectives.”

BAE SYSTEMS

BAE Systems has recently appointed Emad Al-Rajih and Yarub Al-Daghither, both Saudi nationals, to executive management positions with the company in Saudi Arabia. They are based in the new Al-Shaheen headquarters in Riyadh and will work with the firm’s industrial partners to develop and expand their industrial capability in the Kingdom. Emad was previously with the Royal Saudi Air Force while Yarub rejoins BAE Systems after working with industry in Saudi Arabia for a year. Their appointments are part of a new drive by BAE Systems to expand and develop its portfolio of industrial companies in the Kingdom, developing a home market strategy aimed at making Saudi Arabia a place where the company manufactures goods and develop expertise as well as sell services. BAE Systems is a major transatlantic defense and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, IT solutions and customer support services.

ZAHID TRACTOR/RENAULT

Zahid Tractor said yesterday that it launched the all-new 3rd generation Clio III at the 25th Riyadh Motor Show. Adjudged as the “Car of the year — 2006” in Europe by a board of 58 automotive specialized journalists from 22 European countries, Clio III beat 28 other cars in its category for design, quality, safety and overall performance. Zahid Tractor together with Renault will introduce the new Clio III with a 1.6-liter engine producing 110hp.