LONDON: Growth across Britain's private sector cooled slightly in the three months to September, an industry survey showed on Sunday, although companies were mostly upbeat about their prospects for the next three months.
The Confederation of British Industry's monthly indicator of output for manufacturers, retailers and services companies slipped to +11, down from +14 for the three months to August.
“Growth in the economy has held steady through the summer, although at a slightly slower pace than expected by many firms,” CBI chief economist Rain Newton-Smith said.
The expansion eased in factories and fizzled out in business and professional services firms, the CBI said. Distribution was the only sector to experience faster growth, following a strong performance from retailers.
Despite the mixed readings, overall output expectations for the next three months edged up to +18, up two points from August.
The CBI survey is unlikely to sway Bank of England rate-setters who have said interest rates are likely to rise soon, as long as the economy continues growing and prices keep rising.
Last week the Office for National Statistics said Britain's economy expanded at its slowest annual pace since 2013 in the 12 months following last year's Brexit vote.
A majority of economists polled by Reuters last week expect the BoE will hike rates in November, though most of them also thought it would be a mistake to increase them now from a record low 0.25 percent.
— Reuters
UK economy overcast but outlook improves
UK economy overcast but outlook improves
Taiba Investments profit rises 9% on stronger pilgrim-driven revenue
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Taiba Investments Co. reported a 9.32 percent rise in annual profit to SR364.8 million ($97.20 million) as higher pilgrim flows lifted revenue to SR1.36 billion, a filing on Tadawul showed.
Net profit attributable to shareholders increased from SR333.7 million a year earlier, with earnings per share climbing to SR1.40 from SR1.28. Revenue rose 3.7 percent to SR1.36 billion in the year ended Dec. 31, compared with SR1.32 billion in 2024.
Taiba, a hospitality and real estate developer backed by the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund, focuses on hotel and property assets primarily in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.
In a Tadawul filing, the company stated: “This growth was primarily driven by improved performance across the company’s segments in Makkah and Madinah, supported by higher numbers of visitors and Umrah pilgrims, the commencement of operations of new facilities, and increased revenues from the real estate segment.”
Taiba Investments reported that the SR31.1 million rise in net profit was mainly attributable to improved operating performance, the reversal of a litigation provision previously recognized in 2023 following the termination of a contractual relationship with one of the operators after a settlement between the parties, and capital gains realized from the expropriation of one of its properties in Madinah.
Total comprehensive income attributable to shareholders declined 55.53 percent to SR198.2 million from SR445.7 million.
Other comprehensive income recorded a loss of SR166.6 million, compared with a gain of SR111.9 million in the previous year, primarily due to a decline in the fair value of financial derivatives used for hedging and a decrease in the market value of certain investments measured at fair value through other comprehensive income.
Shareholders’ equity increased marginally by 0.04 percent to SR6.85 billion. Taiba's share price saw a 3.03 percent increase to SR34 by 10:20 am Saudi time.
