Ras al Khaimah Ceramics, the world's largest ceramic tile company, expects to boost its revenue by up to 15 per cent over the next two years after slashing its debt by a quarter.
The company, which is based in Ras al Khaimah and has operations in Bangladesh, Iran, China, Sudan and India, has a global production capacity of 117 million square metres of tiles per year. It is selling 105 million square metres at present.
"We have adequate capacity to meet our sales [targets] and to grow revenues within the existing capacity by between 10 or 15 per cent," said Manish Joshi, the chief financial officer at RAK Ceramics. He added that emerging markets, which offer large returns on investment, were the main targets for growth.
He singled out India and Bangladesh as having "large" market growth potential for sales of tiles.
"There's a lot of sustenance from the emerging market. If India's tile consumption reaches half of China, it means the India market will grow by 770 million square metres," said Mr Joshi.
This equates to more than double India's present consumption rate of 350 million square metres per year. About three out of every four tiles laid in India come from RAK Ceramics, according to the company. Housing demand in India and Bangladesh is also expected to fuel demand for ceramic tiles and sanitaryware, which includes toilet bowls and sinks.
RAK Ceramics supplies up to 75 per cent of Indian domestic demand for sanitaryware and 25 per cent of demand for ceramic tiles in Bangladesh.
Khater Massaad, the chief executive of the company, said in September that it planned an initial public offering (IPO) of its India subsidiary this year. He did not disclose the size of the issue.
This follows the US$250 million (Dh918.22m) IPO of its Bangladesh unit last May, which was 15 times oversubscribed and the first book-building IPO in the history of the Bangladesh stock market.
The company has cut its debt by more than Dh550m, 25 per cent in the past two years, making it less debt-dependent and freeing cash to expand existing operations around the world.
"The company is generating cash, and because it has sufficient capacity, it is using its funds to pay debt," said Mr Joshi.
"This gives us a position to grow our operations without external means," he added.
RAK Ceramic's share price has more than doubled in the past year to Dh2.55, but it is still trading at a substantial discount, traders said.
Fadi al Said, a manager at ING's MENA fund, which has a 1.1 per cent stake in RAK Ceramics, said the possibility of selling non-core assets and handing out a cash dividend was not "out of the question".
Separately, RAK Minerals, a unit of RAK Ceramics that owns a coal business in Indonesia, is expected to reap rewards for the company.
About 500 million tonnes of coal was thought to be in the coal mine, but exploration unearthed nearly 2 billion tons, "far exceeding expectations", said Mr Joshi.
"It's an interesting asset because of the amount of coal that has been identified," he said.
He would not be drawn on speculation that the asset would be sold or on how much a sale could raise. People close to the situation estimated a sale could raise as much as $100m.
fhalime@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Real Madrid (2) v Bayern Munich (1)
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
When: 10.45pm, Tuesday
Watch Live: beIN Sports HD
Name: Colm McLoughlin
Country: Galway, Ireland
Job: Executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free
Favourite golf course: Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
Favourite part of Dubai: Palm Jumeirah
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2014
Number of employees: 36
Sector: Logistics
Raised: $2.5 million
Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 4
Osasuna: García (14')
Real Madrid: Isco (33'), Ramos (38'), Vázquez (84'), Jovic (90' 2)
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PLUS
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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
