Unpaid advertising bills, mainly from major developers, are causing media companies to lose staff because they cannot pay them on time.
The advertising industry, which enjoyed more than 40 per cent annual growth in the boom, was among the hardest hit when property companies fell on hard times.
The latest victim is Media Week, the trade publication that was one of the most outspoken voices about the issue of late payments throughout the industry's bumpy times last year.
Last week, the magazine's four editorial staff and several other journalists at its sister publications walked away from their jobs because their pay cheques were several months late, informed sources said.
The resignations at Media Week illustrate how the media industry has been affected by the financial difficulties of developers in Dubai.
Emirates Neon Group (ENG), which owns Media Week and a range of print, television and mobile divisions, as well as an outdoor advertising business, was badly affected when property companies stopped paying bills.
"It's a very difficult market situation," Mike Orlov, the publishing director of ENG, told the website AdNation Middle East.
"A very high number of companies are owed a great deal of money by their customers, which has led to problems with companies meeting their requirements and ENG, amongst many other businesses, has suffered."
ENG is far from alone. Several media companies have told The National they are facing increasing difficulties in being paid for the work they have done for projects.
None feels confident of obtaining enforcement orders through legal action and most are relying on negotiation and personal relationships with the companies to obtain partial payment.
The sensitivity of these negotiations means few are willing to speak openly.
Late payments reached a level last year where the UAE chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) began holding discussions in the spring with a number of media owners and agencies.
Ghassan Harfouche, the treasurer of the UAE chapter, told Media Week in May that the IAA's best estimate for the amount owned to the industry was "almost certainly as high as US$150 million (Dh550.8m)".
Eddie Moutran, the chairman and chief executive of Memac Ogilvy in the MENA region, complained of unpaid bills at an IAA forum in early November.
"Receivables are a huge problem," Mr Moutran said. "And there is a bigger problem with bad debts. We are not talking about the normal debts where the agency can put some money aside at the end of the year to deal with this. We are talking about the bad debts that could drive you to bankruptcy."
ENG is optimistic that in the long run it will recoup most of what it is owed. A manager at the group with knowledge of the talks between ENG and its debtors said payment problems began in September 2008, the same time many other companies say they first met challenges in being paid.
@Email:khagey@thenational.ae
tgara@thenational.ae
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETamer%20Ruggli%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadine%20Labaki%2C%20Fanny%20Ardant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
Afghanistan Premier League - at a glance
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Fixtures:
Tue, Oct 16, 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Kabul Zwanan; Wed, Oct 17, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Nangarhar Leopards; 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Paktia Panthers; Thu, Oct 18, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Kandahar Knights; 8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers; Fri, Oct 19, 8pm: First semi-final; Sat, Oct 20, 8pm: Second semi-final; Sun, Oct 21, 8pm: final
Table:
1. Balkh Legends 6 5 1 10
2. Paktia Panthers 6 4 2 8
3. Kabul Zwanan 6 3 3 6
4. Nagarhar Leopards 7 2 5 4
5. Kandahar Knights 5 1 4 2
The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo and dual electric motors
Power: 300hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 520Nm at 1,500-3,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.0L/100km
Price: from Dh199,900
On sale: now
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
Sukuk
An Islamic bond structured in a way to generate returns without violating Sharia strictures on prohibition of interest.
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000