Zameen.com raises $20m investment

KARACHI: Property portal Zameen.com has closed its third round of funding with a $20 million investment from one of its current investors, a fund which focuses on frontier and emerging markets with over $1 billion in assets under management, a press release said on Wednesday.

“The investment has gone into the website’s parent company, Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG), formerly Zamzama Property Group, which owns and controls online property portals in Pakistan and UAE.

“The funding comes at the heels of a recent $9m investment, which was announced in September 2015, bringing the total funds raised by Zameen.com in the last six months to $29m,” it added.

Dutch hi-tech group ASML posts ‘record’ year

THE HAGUE: Leading Dutch manufacturer of computer chip making systems ASML Wednesday declared 2015 a “record” year for sales which rose to 6.3bn euros ($6.9bn), with net profits leaping by 15pc.

The company, seen as a global hi-tech bellwether for the micro-processing industry, said profits had reached 1.39bn euros, compared with 1.2bn in 2014.—AFP

Shell expects profits plunge on oil price fall

LONDON: Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday said it expected a sharp decline in full-year net profits, as plunging oil prices slash the earnings of leading energy companies.

The Anglo Dutch group forecast profit after tax of between $1.6 billion and $2bn during 2015.

This compares with net profit of almost $15bn in 2014.

Shell is slashing thousands of jobs, selling assets worth billions of dollars and exiting projects as oil prices continue to plunge on world markets because of a supply glut.—AFP

Goldman Sachs earnings hit by legal charge

NEW YORK: Goldman Sachs reported a big drop in earnings Wednesday as hefty legal expenses and lower trading revenues more than offset the gains from strong merger advising activity.

Earnings for the fourth quarter dropped about 71.8 per cent to $574 million. Revenues fell 5.4pc to $7.3 billion.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2016