JEDDAH: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., has signed deals for 10 new hotels in the Middle East including three in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom’s new properties include one each in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran, Ahmed A. Baki, regional director of sales and marketing for Middle East, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., told Arab News on the sidelines of a road show the group organized at Westin Jeddah on Sunday night.
Indian exports decline 15.9%
NEW DELHI: India’s exports slid nearly 16 percent in January, the steepest drop in over a decade, data showed yesterday, adding to a grim stream of economic data as officials announced general elections in April. Merchandise exports plunged 15.9 percent in January to $12.38 billion from the same month a year earlier, the Commerce Ministry said, marking the fourth straight monthly decline and the biggest percentage fall since mid-1998.
Japan’s auto sales plunge
TOKYO: Sales of new vehicles in Japan plunged last month, figures showed yesterday, underlining the industry’s deepening woes as the economic downturn causes a slump in consumer spending. Car, truck and bus purchases dropped 32.4 percent last month from a year earlier to 218,212, the steepest decline for February since 1974, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association reported.
US consumer spending rises
WASHINGTON: Consumer spending rose in January after falling for a record six straight months, pushed higher by purchases of food and other nondurable items. But the increase is expected to be fleeting given all the problems facing the US economy. The Commerce Department report on consumers showed spending rose 0.6 percent in January, even better than the 0.4 percent gain that economists expected.
KIPCO suffers $201.5m loss
KUWAIT: Kuwait Projects Co. (KIPCO) made a net loss of about 59.46 million dinars ($201.5 million) in fourth-quarter as it took 60 million dinars in provisions against assets. Full-year net profit fell to 24.1 million dinars in 2008, or 21.82 fils per share, the firm said in a statement yesterday.
Bank freezes Global deposits
KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Global Investment House is in talks with a local bank to have it release 45 million dinars ($152.5 million) in deposits frozen by the bank over a loan dispute, a company source said yesterday. The Kuwaiti investment bank had managed to negotiate with the unidentified bank to release 15 million dinars of the deposits, said a Global spokesman, who asked not to be named.
