Dubai Wealth Fund Posts $6.8bn Profit for 2019

General view Dubai. AAWSAT AR
General view Dubai. AAWSAT AR
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Dubai Wealth Fund Posts $6.8bn Profit for 2019

General view Dubai. AAWSAT AR
General view Dubai. AAWSAT AR

The Investment Corporation of Dubai reported Dubai's sovereign wealth fund on Wednesday announced full-year revenues of AED 228 billion ($62 billion) and a net profit of AED 25 billion ($6.8bn).

It said it posted a 25 billion dirham ($6.8 billion) net profit compared to $5.8 billion in 2018.

The banking and financial services results benefited from an AED 4.4Billion ($1.1bn) gain on the partial disposal of Network International Holdings Plc and the fair value measurement of its remaining stake.

Chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE vice president and ruler of Dubai, ICD owns giant firms like Emirates Airline, the largest in the Middle East, Emaar Properties, the region's biggest real estate firm, and UAE's second largest lender, Emirates NBD bank.

It said its revenues last year dropped by 1.9 percent year-on-year to $62 billion over a decline in income from the energy and transport sectors.

"In 2019, ICD produced a very solid performance given the considerable challenges faced by the global economy and the effect that these have had on our businesses," CEO Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani said.

"In 2020, with the significant disruptions arising in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, we are focused on adjusting our operations to preserve their ability to operate competitively when the health crisis subsides," he added.



Gold Firms; Focus on US Data for Cues on Fed's Policy Path

FILE PHOTO: A woman looks at a gold bangle inside a jewellery showroom at a market in Mumbai January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman looks at a gold bangle inside a jewellery showroom at a market in Mumbai January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade//File Photo
TT

Gold Firms; Focus on US Data for Cues on Fed's Policy Path

FILE PHOTO: A woman looks at a gold bangle inside a jewellery showroom at a market in Mumbai January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A woman looks at a gold bangle inside a jewellery showroom at a market in Mumbai January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade//File Photo

Gold prices hovered near a four-week peak on Thursday, while focus shifted to jobs report due on Friday for clarity on the Federal Reserve's 2025 interest rate path.
Spot gold edged 0.1% higher to $2,664.30 per ounce, as of 0732 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.4% to $2,681.80
"Prices are trading in a narrow range ... A new trigger is needed for gold to breach its resistance," said Ajay Kedia, director at Kedia Commodities in Mumbai.
The bullion hit a near four-week high in the previous session after a weaker-than-expected US private employment report hinted that the Fed may be less cautious about easing rates this year.
The market now awaits US jobs report on Friday for more cues on the Fed's policy path.
Investors are also awaiting Donald Trump to take office on Jan. 20 and his proposed tariffs and protectionist policies are expected to fuel inflation.
Policymakers at the Fed's last meeting also "noted that recent higher-than-expected readings on inflation, and the effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy, suggested that the process could take longer than previously anticipated," the minutes showed on Wednesday.
Bullion is considered an inflationary hedge, but high rates reduce the non-yielding asset's allure.
"We believe the bulk of the rally has been put in and that while gold's upward momentum may carry it higher in the near term and in early 2025, a combination of physical and financial market factors may tame the rally and drive gold moderately lower by the end of next year," HSBC said in a note.
Elsewhere, physically-backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) registered their first inflow in four years, the World Gold Council said.
Spot silver added 0.2% to $30.17 per ounce, platinum dropped 0.3% to $952.54 and palladium shed 0.8% to $921.37.