JEDDAH: Almutlak Trade and Industries, a Saudi-based automotive specialist, plans to sell 30 percent of its shares to the public early next year as part of plans to expand its business, the IPO’s adviser said. “The plan is to have it in the first quarter of 2010 but the exact date is subject to the Capital Market Authority’s approval,” said Faisal Alsayrafi, chief executive and managing director of Financial Transaction House Co., the lead adviser for the IPO, adding the company’s valuation had yet to be completed.
6 mining firms eyeing Colossus
BANGALORE, India: Colossus Minerals Inc. has signed confidentiality agreements with six global mining companies that may be interested in buying the company, its chief executive said. Colossus, which is developing its flagship gold-platinum-palladium Serra Pelada project in Brazil, is often cited as a potential takeover target by industry analysts amid rising M&A activity in the sector and higher prices for precious metals.
Gulf Bank profit slips 14%
CAIRO: Egyptian Gulf Bank said its net profit for the first nine months of 2009 fell 14 percent to 71.7 million Egyptian pounds ($13.1 million). Net profit in the first nine months of 2008 was 83.7 million. The bank added provisions of 5.85 million during the quarter, down from 41.9 million in the 2008 period. Egypt’s state-owned Misr Insurance company owns 19 percent of Egyptian Gulf Bank, and private Gulf and Egyptian investors hold other significant stakes.
5 Dubai firms downgraded
DUBAI: Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded five Dubai state-linked entities including port operator DP World, citing concern over their access to government financial support. They also included Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), DIFC Investments, Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZ) and Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group (DHCOG). “The government has reiterated that GRIs (government-related issuers) debt obligations ... are not regarded as obligations of the government ... and that the government is under no obligation to extend support to any such GRI,” Moody’s said in a statement on Wednesday.
Microsoft cuts 800 more jobs
WASHINGTON: Microsoft Corp. says it is cutting 800 more jobs. That’s in addition to the 5,000 layoffs it announced in January. Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman, said Wednesday the cuts are being made in offices around the globe. He would not say what specific product groups or job types are affected. Gellos also says Microsoft had already let nearly all of the 5,000 go, in what was the company’s first-ever widespread layoffs. Microsoft also said in January it would continue to hire in key areas such as Web search. The software maker, based in Redmond, Wash., employed about 94,000 people as of the end of December 2008.
