Earnings reports dampen UAE shares trading



National Bank of Abu Dhabi yesterday reported a 3 per cent fall in third-quarter profits, warning that the bank faced “more difficult conditions” in the medium term amid lower oil prices.

The bank, the UAE’s largest lender by assets and the second-largest bank by market capitalisation, said that profits fell to Dh1.32 billion for the three months to the end of September, compared with Dh1.44bn during the same period last year.

The figure came in 7.5 per cent below an average of Bloomberg analyst estimates.

“It is important to recognise that we appear to be entering a ‘new normal’ environment of lower oil prices and more difficult market conditions over the medium- term,” the bank’s chief executive Alex Thursby said.

The picture was more positive for Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) and Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), with both reporting profits ahead of analyst estimates.

Profits at DIB, the UAE’s largest Islamic lender, rose 43.6 per cent to Dh972.1 million for the quarter.

CBD, meanwhile, reported a 2.8 per cent increase in nine-month profit to Dh915m.

Such increases did little to boost investor confidence in local equities.

The Dubai Financial Market General Index fell for the seventh time in the past eight days, ending down 0.8 per cent at 3,486.80.

The slide was even more pronounced in Abu Dhabi, with shares falling 1.5 per cent to 4,321.91.

Etisalat closed 1 per cent lower at Dh15, after the telecoms operator announced a 9 per cent fall in third-quarter earnings.

FGB ended down 3.8 per cent at Dh12.50, following the bank’s announcement of a 0.4 per cent dip in third-quarter profits on Tuesday.

jeverington@thenational.ae

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'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai, 
HBKU Press 

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Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

if you go

The flights

Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.

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Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850

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There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com

For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art. 

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