Shuaa last week announced profits of Dh74 million for 2017 versus a loss of Dh132m in 2016. Quite the turnaround. As always, it is important to examine such large differences in financial performance. So our first step is to look where this came from, an increase in revenues or a decrease in expenses. Continue reading →

For the past three years I have been working with family groups on transitioning their investments and businesses into today’s economic reality via innovative transformative strategies. Basically, I used my experience, detailed in the over 250 articles on this blog and in The National. One of the major obstacles that I faced was executives who did not have a personal productivity system. Even when I managed to help them develop their transformative strategies, and even though these executives understood the concepts and the project plans, they still found challenges in executing the plans. I decided to put all of what I learned together as I think people might find it useful. It doesn’t fit with the vision and mission of this blog, so I launched Personal Productivity Systems as a separate site. I hope that you find it useful.

While this column has traditionally focused on one key business event or topic that has caught my eye from the past week, there are often several events of note that are worth commenting on at greater length.

The past week is a case in point, with key lessons to be learnt about what makes a good acquisition, how calculations about what’s best for the bottom line can have disastrous consequences for your brand, and the rising attraction of Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi-based entities for international investors.

On Monday, the UAE’s NMC Health deployed $207 million to acquire majority stakes in two healthcare firms, UAE-based cosmetic surgery company CosmeSurge, and Saudi-based Al Salam Medical Group. The acquisitions were eye-catching for four main reasons. Continue reading →

I’d like to welcome you to Sabah al-Binali’s Musings. Over the years I have learnt much from mentors, friends and colleagues. The greatest lessons nearly always involved developing a new way to look at the issues. These were the lessons that I could apply repeatedly in my career to great success. Earlier this year I decided to try and give back to the business community in my own way, by passing on what has worked for me. This took the form of a weekly column at The National, a respected newspaper with a great editorial staff that have been extremely supportive.

Continue reading →