1 BP profits show recovery signs (BBC) Oil giant BP saw profits double in the last
three months of 2016 on the back of slightly higher oil prices and more
cost-cutting. Underlying replacement cost profit - the company's preferred
measure - was $400m, up from $196m a year earlier.
BP took another charge of $799m for the Deepwater
Horizon disaster, bringing total charges to $62.6bn. "2016 was the year we
made significant strides" for future growth, said chief executive Bob
Dudley.
For the year as a whole, underlying replacement cost
profit - which strips out fluctuations in the value of oil stocks - fell to
$2.58bn, down from $5.90bn in 2015. The profit figures were, however, below
some analysts' forecasts.
2 Brexit may cost UK 30,000 finance jobs (Jennifer
Rankin in The Guardian) The UK could lose 30,000 finance sector jobs as a
result of Brexit, but EU rivals need to act to avoid importing banking risk to
the continent, according to an influential thinktank with close ties to the
European commission.
The City of London stands to lose 10,000 banking
jobs and 20,000 roles in accountancy, law and consulting, as EU clients move
business worth €1.8tn (£1.6tn) to the continent after Brexit, according to
Brussels-based Bruegel.
According to the economics thinktank’s model,
Frankfurt would be the biggest winner, with Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin also
making gains. But the researchers warn that having a more geographically
diverse spread of financial institutions, without stronger oversight of banks,
would heighten the risk of a banking meltdown in the event of an acute
financial crisis.
These risks could be reduced and benefits shared
more evenly, the authors argue, if the EU takes a common approach to investment
banks rather than 27 national systems in a “regulatory race to the bottom” to
steal London’s crown. The analysis is based on the assumption the UK will leave
the single market, as set out in Theresa May’s Brexit speech last month.
3 Dubai sets record for visitor traffic (Issac John
in Khaleej Times) Overnight visitors to Dubai soared five per cent to 14.9
million in 2016, largely spurred by an upswing in traffic from the GCC, India,
Pakistan, China, Britain and Russia.
Recording a four-year annual growth of eight per
cent, which is twice the global travel industry growth, Dubai remained on
course to hit a target of 20 million visitors by 2020, despite "a period
of unforeseen macro-economic upheavals," Dubai's Department of Tourism and
Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) said.
The 2016 visitor traffic growth reflects a four-year
CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of eight per cent at an impressive pace that
is twice the global travel industry growth of four per cent.
Leading the list of traffic generators to Dubai in
2016, India brought in nearly 1.8 million overnight tourists, up 12 per cent,
while Pakistan, which is among the top 10 markets, delivered 607,000 tourists
at 18 per cent growth.
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