Oman Telecommunications, the Arabian Gulf country’s biggest phone company, reported a 13 percent increase in first-quarter profit as expenses declined.

Net income rose to OMR29.1m (US$75.6m) from OMR25.8m a year earlier, the Muscat-based company said in a statement to the local stock market today.

Expenses fell 3.6 percent to OMR79.6m, while revenue dropped 0.4 percent to OMR111.1m.

The average estimate of four analysts was for a profit of OMR29.1m, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In February, Oman Telecommunications announced plans to invest OMR84m in...

Shaza Hotels, the contemporary Eastern hotel brand partnered with Kempinski, yesterday unveiled plans for Shaza Salalah — a luxury beach resort in Salalah.
The development was launched at a signing ceremony by Shaza Hotel’s CEO Simon Coombs and Taameer Investment’s CEO Suleiman al Harthy, with the attendance of the Chairman of the Golden Group of Companies, Shaikh Salim al Ghazali, at the Arabian Travel Market.

Shaza Salalah has been master-planned as a one of its kind luxury beach resort, bringing into development features centred on privacy, the natural landscape...

The importance of Dubai International as vital regional and global cargo hub was again recognised at the annual Supply Chain and Transport Awards (SCATA) held in Dubai last night where it was named Air Cargo Hub of the Year.

Dubai International won the same award last year.

‘It is a great honour to again be recognised by our peers as a key player in the regional and global cargo industry. At Dubai Airports we continually strive to build on the advantages of our geocentric location at both Dubai International and Dubai World"...

The cabinet has approved the allocation of 150 trillion rials (some $ 12.2 billion) to support agriculture projects this year, which began on March 20, Agriculture Minister Sadeq Khalilian said on Wednesday.

Moreover, 40 trillion rials (some $ 3.3 billion) has been allotted to expand agricultural infrastructure, Khalilian added.

Referring to the government’s decision to import $ 24 billion worth of basic goods, he said that $ 6 billion would be paid to import agricultural inputs and goods and $ 18 billion to import"...

Reichle & De-Massari, (R&M, www.rdm.com), the Swiss structured cabling specialist, has confirmed its focus on the Saudi market, seeing tremendous potential in the Kingdom and as a result has added sales and technical staff to its Saudi workforce.

R&M's increased Saudi presence is in line with its philosophy of better serving its customer base by being close to them on the ground. The company already possesses a successful track record in the Kingdom, having completed several notable cabling projects in recent years such as providing a new end-to-end state-of-the-art network...

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov was scheduled to hold talks on May 3 2012 with Khalid Al Attiyah, Qatar's minister of state for foreign affairs, the Foreign Ministry said.

Al-Attiyah was to arrive in the Bulgarian capital city Sofia at the head of an 18-member delegation including senior officials from various ministries and representatives of leading Qatari investment companies.

The Qatar delegation is visiting in preparation for an official visit to Bulgaria by Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, which is...

Bahrain's tourism industry is returning to normal as new figures released by STR Global show a strong rebound in the country's hotel industry.

According to the new data, Bahrain's hotel occupancy rates more than doubled in March compared to March of last year. The country posted a 112 percent increase in occupancy rates and a 14.6 percent increase in average daily rates. Overall, Bahrain's hotel industry rose 143.1 percent in revenue growth per room available (RevPAR).

While there is increasing pressure on average room rates in Northern Africa, the situation looks better in the...

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, today announced that it has been selected by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to supply in the range of 40 to 80 million secure Sealys documents for a variety of official permits. These include in particular digital tachograph cards, the next generation of highly-secure polycarbonate driver’s licenses, and biometric residence permits, in a multi-year contract.

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Inatech, the global software and IT services company, has announced that it has appointed Jean-Hervé Jenn as CEO. Based at the company’s UK headquarters, Jenn will be responsible for global operations in the UK and Europe, the USA, the Middle East and India.

Inatech is controlled by Chemoil, the world’s leading supplier of marine fuel, and a subsidiary"...

One of Switzerland’s largest banks that specialises in online trading, MIG Bank SA, has received its Financial Services Authority (FSA) license enabling it to offer online Foreign Exchange (Forex), Gold, Silver and Contracts for Difference (CFDs) via its new London based subsidiary, MIG Capital (Europe) Ltd (...