DUBAI: Passenger traffic at Dubai’s main airport surpassed 5 million people in February, rising 11.4 percent from a year earlier, airport authorities said yesterday.
The airport, one of the world’s busiest, handled 5.1 million passengers in February. Year-to-date traffic was up 13.0 percent to 10.6 million passengers.
“We continue to stay ahead of the curve in terms of our traffic forecast of 65.4 million passengers in 2013,” Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths said in the statement.
An increase in travellers from eastern Europe, Asia, Russia and the Gulf in February offset a 1.6 percent year-on-year drop in travellers from elsewhere in the Middle East because of turmoil in countries such as Syria.
Cargo volumes in February totalled 182,580 tonnes, an increase of 15.9 percent. Year-to-date cargo volumes were up 12.1 percent to 370,099 tonnes.
Saudi Electric in $2bn sukuk sale
DUBAI: Saudi Electricity Co (SEC), the Gulf’s largest utility, has launched an offer of a $2bn dual-tranche Islamic bond, or sukuk, with pricing due later, a document from lead managers said.
The offer is split between a $1bn 10-year tranche and a $1bn 30-year portion, with price guidance set at 155 basis points and 190 bps over benchmark US Treasuries.
Orders worth $13bn have been pledged by investors for the deal, which should price in the morning New York time, the document added.
Deutsche Bank and HSBC Holdings are arranging the sukuk sale.
NBAD to repay $817m support
DUBAI: National Bank of Abu Dhabi has regulatory approval to repay the remaining Dh3bn ($817m) of support it received from UAE authorities in 2008, the bank said in a statement yesterday.
The largest bank by market value in the UAE will repay the sum in equal instalments in the first and second quarters of this year, the statement said, adding that the bank had already repaid Dh2.6bn in 2012.
Banks in the UAE received financial support from the government in 2008 to shore up their balance sheets, and converted this into seven-year bonds in late 2009.
They are now expected to prioritise repaying the money as the value of the capital instruments has diminished and access to finance has become cheaper. Reuters
