Gulf business confidence soars

Overall business confidence across the Gulf continued to gain in the seventh consecutive quarter, the latest Gulf Business Confidence Index from HSBC released recently showed. Predictions of revenue, maintenance of profits, budgets and meeting targets all remain positive and the index across all six countries is at its highest for two years.
The index reported a marginal gain of 0.9 point compared to the first quarter of 2010 with gains in the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar. The Saudi Index remained steady, but Kuwait and Oman fell slightly. The mood of GCC business people is characterised as realistically optimistic, the HSBC study revealed.
Business sentiment has been inching upwards in the last seven quarters after hitting a low in late 2008, regarded as the height of the financial downturn. While many of the markets surveyed have shown only a slight increase against the first quarter of 2010, the upward trend is more marked when viewed over the past year. From the first quarter of 2009 to date, the overall index has risen by over 15 points to 86.

Perceived confidence
“The index is an excellent indicator of perceived confidence around the region... For instance, between the October ‘08 and January ‘09 surveys, the number of people who were pessimistic about meeting their targets almost doubled to 24 per cent,” said Simon Vaughan Johnson, regional head of commercial banking in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region at the HSBC Group.
“That number has now returned to October ‘08 levels of 13 per cent, its lowest since the outset of the financial crisis.” Although the overall index remains below the heights of 2007 and early 2008, specific indicators show a positive outlook in key operational areas.
Forecast growth for 2010 shows that 43 per cent see an increase in business turnover in the Middle East, while 40 per cent see an increase in profit. Thirty-three per cent are planning to increase their investments. While the mood continues to improve, intra-regional differences show some marked differences between countries in the region’s corporate sector.
Saudi Arabia is most confident, with an index of 97. The UAE remains the least confident, with an index of 78.4. The UAE Index also showed one of the highest gains, quarter-on-quarter. A recent survey from Deloitte showed that 69 per cent of chief financial officers in the region are more positive about the financial prospects of their companies compared to the last six months. “This optimism [in the region] is a very good sign but should not lead to false hope. Given the recent cycle senior management would be wise to go back to basics,” said Ron Ribeiro, chief executive officer of Aryan Business Consulting.
“They need to ask few simple but crucial questions as they prepare for growth.” Johnson said the HSBC survey results showed a mood of realistic optimism in the GCC. “Many companies are doing better than they were 12 months ago, but they do not see another boom on the horizon. This realistic perspective is predicting steady and sustainable growth,” he said.

Employment
A survey conducted among 170 recruiters in the GCC countries forecasts an optimistic employment scenario for the second half of 2010. Fifty per cent of recruiters said that hiring will be robust in 2010, 26 per cent said that replacement hiring will take place, 18 per cent said that there would be no hiring while 6 per cent indicated layoffs. Most recruiters said that more jobs will be created for potential employees who have at least 4-8 years experience. “We perceive a positive sentiment among the recruiters. Most companies are now looking at replacement hiring,” said Vineet Singh, business head, Naukri Gulf.com. “We have seen that staff retention improved drastically during the downturn and the economy is under a continued momentum of recovery,” Singh added.
A deeper analysis of the job categories in the survey reflects that the construction and oil and gas sectors indicated growing market optimism. Sixty-five per cent of recruiters in construction and engineering and 52 per cent in the oil and gas industry said that new jobs will be created in the second half of this year.
- Gulf News

Vidullanka records impressive Q1 performance

Vidullanka PLC posted a group net profit of Rs.56.9million in the first quarter of FY 2010-11, which is a 24.6% increase, compared to the first quarter of the last financial year, company said.
The revenue from power generation grew 20.3% to Rs.101.5million and saw a decrease in finance cost by 22%.
Vidullanka PLC shares were trading actively during the last few months, following the remarkable performance reported for the last financial year. Trading of Vidullanka stocks have been suspended from 22nd of July and will commence trading on 27th July, following the share split.

NDB helps develop entrepreneurship skills of undergrads

NDB Bank in collaboration with the Alumni Association and the Career Guidance Unit of the University of Colombo recently organized a programme on “Entrepreneurship Skills Development” for the University students. In line with the Bank’s strategic CSR intent of Entrepreneurship, the programme was aimed at developing entrepreneurial skills of the undergraduates of the University.
Thirty-four Third and Final Year students from the Faculties of Art, Management and Science participated in the ‘Entrepreneurship Skills Development’ programme that was held at the NDB Bank Auditorium. The programme consisted of technical sessions that covered numerous aspects of entrepreneurship. These sessions were conducted by successful Sri Lankan entrepreneurs who have excelled in their respective areas of business. The sessions were followed by panel discussions with experts from the industries together with senior management of the Bank.
The technical sessions were conducted by experts such as Gihan Perera - Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Perera & Sons (Bakers) Limited, Daya Gamage - Chairman of Daya Group of Companies, Nihal Athukorala - Managing Director of Javana & Graphics (Pvt) Limited and Deshamanya L G Godakanda - Managing Director of Vendol Company Lanka (Pvt),. They shared their experiences and expert knowledge on areas such as Overview of Entrepreneurship, using SWOT as a tool for successful Entrepreneurship and Importance of marketing for a successful Entrepreneur.
Further, A. L. Somaratne - Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide Micro Bank, Papua New Guinea, Chandula Abeywickreme - Deputy General Manager, Marketing and Retail Banking of Hatton National Bank and Seneka Kekiriwaragoda, Manager NDB Investment Bank also shared their expert knowledge on identifying business propositions, sources of funding available for entrepreneurs and the development of a business plan.