Real estate developer Emaar plans to invest at least Rs 2,000 crore in the Mumbai market over 6-7 years as it looks to expand into this sprawling megapolis, where it sees huge growth potential.  

The Dubai-based company, which has developed iconic projects like the Burj Khalifa, has already announced plans to invest around $1.85 billion in India over the next 6-7 years, Kalyan Chakrabarti, CEO of Emaar India said on Monday. 

Emaar India has already developed projects across six cities in India, including Gurugram, Mohali, Lucknow, Indore, Jaipur and Hyderabad. 

It is now entering the Maharashtra market with a luxury villa project in Alibaug in Raigad district near Mumbai. 

“As far as Mumbai is concerned, it’s core to our thinking. This is the deepest and largest real estate market (in the country) and is going to be so for several decades. The economic activity that is coming out of Mumbai, the type of thought process and wealth generation that happens here, the degree to which Mumbai is well connected to the globe, makes it a pretty attractive location,” said Chakrabarti. 

Given Mumbai is already a saturated market, Emaar is open to explore redevelopment projects also, apart from greenfield opportunities, said Chakrabarti. It will continue to focus on luxury and mid-market segments for development of projects.  

The coastal town of Alibaug can be reached by ferry boats from south Mumbai, or it’s about 3-4 hour drive. However, the company officials are hopeful that with infrastructure projects like the Mumbai trans-harbour link (Atal Setu), the upcoming Navi Mumbai Airport and other planned infra developments in the region, this Villa project will find many takers. 

The project spread over 25 acre will consist of 84 villas, each costing between Rs 9 crore to around Rs 16 crore. 

Excluding the cost of land acquisition, Emaar India will be investing around Rs 400 crore in this villa project. The company has received RERA approval for the project and as per timelines submitted to authorities, the project is expected to be delivered by December 2030. The company officials are hopeful of finishing it much earlier. 

By the end of 2024, the company will have close to 8 million square feet projects under various stages of construction in India, according to Chakrabarti, who added that 80-85 per cent of its portfolio will be residential projects. 

RACHEL Reeves was handed a pre-Budget boost as the economy is set to grow FASTER than expected this year, new figures show.

The Chancellor was given the boost by the International Monetary Fund declared the battle against inflation “has largely been won”.

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The upgrade comes after Ministers have been accused of peddling doom and gloom about the UK which has dented business and consumer confidence.

Growth in the UK is now expected to be 1.1 per cent for 2024 up from a forecast of 0.7 per cent projected back in July.

The IMF stated that the world economy this year will grow by 3.2 per cent rather than its previous estimate of 3.3 per cent.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “It’s welcome that the IMF have upgraded our growth forecast for this year, but I know there is more work to do.

“That is why the Budget next week will be about fixing the foundations to deliver change so we can protect working people, fix the NHS and rebuild Britain.”

Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves have put growth as a key mission at the start of their time in office.

Ministers have repeatedly said that strong economic growth will help deliver vital public services such as the NHS and education system.

But the Chancellor has warned of a £22 billion financial black hole as she prepares for next Wednesday’s Budget.

It’s also understood that the Treasury are also looking at a funding gap overall of some £40 billion which will include building a financial buffer to withstand economic shocks.

The IMF also said that UK inflation for the year will be higher than expected at 2.6 per cent, up from a previous forecast of 2.5 per cent.

Their inflation figure for next year was set at 2.1 per cent which is up from 2 per cent previously.

The rate for UK unemployment is set to have been 4.3 per cent for the whole of this year compared to the earlier estimate of 4.2 per cent.

But they warned in their World Economic Outlook that there is uncertainty in the forecasts due to a raft of elections – including the US on November 5.

They said that there could be “significant shifts” in trade and fiscal policy which could change future growth in different regions.

Reeves will travel to Washington DC at the end of the week to meet finance chiefs at the IMF annual meetings.

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Starbucks has suspended its financial guidance as it unexpectedly released results that showed a decline in revenue and a sharp drop in quarterly earnings.

The preliminary results, published more than a week ahead of schedule, are the first under new chief executive Brian Niccol, who joined the world’s largest coffee chain last month.

Starbucks’ global comparable store sales fell 7 per cent year on year in its fiscal fourth quarter as transactions in its US stores fell by a tenth. Net revenues declined 3 per cent to $9.1bn in the three months to September. On a per-share basis, earnings fell 25 per cent year over year.

“Given the company’s CEO transition coupled with the current state of the business, guidance will be suspended for the full fiscal year 2025,” which just began, the company said.

Business at Starbucks has weakened this year because customers are balking at the prices of its drinks and the long queues during busy times at stores. The company has also encountered tough competition in China, a market pivotal to its growth.

Even as it reported lower profits, the chain raised its quarterly dividend from 57 cents a share to 61 cents. Chief financial officer Rachel Ruggeri said: “We want to amplify our confidence in the business, and provide some certainty as we drive our turnaround.”

The company ousted former CEO Laxman Narasimhan in August and hired Niccol, who has been credited with turning around burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill. Niccol has set out a vision to restore the cosy atmosphere found at Starbucks locations in its early days, saying he would first focus on the chain’s US stores. 

In a video released on Tuesday, Niccol said it was “clear we need to fundamentally change our recent strategy” to return to growth, saying Starbucks would simplify an “overly complex” menu, fix its pricing architecture and “ensure that every customer feels Starbucks is worth it every single time they visit”.

“We need to focus on what has always set us apart — a welcoming coffee house where people gather and where we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by our skilled baristas,” he said.

Comparable sales at US locations fell 6 per cent in the quarter, as higher bills paid by customers were more than offset by a 10 decline in the number of transactions.

Comparable store sales in China dropped 14 per cent, “weighed down by intensified competition and a soft macro environment that impacted consumer spending”, the company said.

Shares in Starbucks were down 3.6 per cent in after-hours trading.

KLARNA, Britain’s biggest “buy now, pay later” firm, says it has saved customers nearly half a billion pounds in interest since its UK launch in 2014.

Around 10million — more than a third of households — have used Klarna to buy goods in the past year.

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And the boom in “buy now, pay later” has prompted the Government to say it will legislate the sector to protect shoppers.

Last week Tulip Siddiq, economic secretary to the Treasury, confirmed rules would come in next year.

And Klarna co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski welcomed the move.

He said: “We are in favour of regulation — I’m not an anarchist that doesn’t believe in rules.

“The main thing I’m worried about is if it will reduce competition against the banks who are raking in profits from customers.”

Klarna said that during its decade in the UK, the banks and traditional credit card firms such as American Express have made £160billion from customer interest charges.

The Swedish firm, co-founded by Mr Siemiatkowski in 2005, lets customers buy goods and split payments over three months without interest.

It made almost £1billion in revenues in the first half of this year from ads and charging retailers commission.

Klarna charges people who miss a payment a maximum £5 late fee.

However, it says its default rates are 30 per cent lower than traditional lenders’.

Mr Siemiatkowski, who started his working life flipping burgers at Burger King, told Sun Business: “We’ve saved consumers nearly half a billion pounds in interest — that’s real money in their pockets, not lining the banks’ coffers.

“We’ve proven that paying for everything — from flights to garden tools and getting your boiler fixed — doesn’t have to mean being gouged by high interest rates.”

Debt charities have argued that Klarna encourages people to buy things they can’t afford.

But Mr Siemiatkowski said: “Having fixed payment instalments without interest is a lot better than racking up credit card debt.”

HSBC to be split in two

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HSBC has announced a big shake-up that will split its UK and Hong Kong business into separate divisions.

The overhaul comes six weeks after Georges Elhedery, the bank’s former finance chief, was promoted to the top job.

HSBC also named Pam Kaur as its first female finance chief as part of its restructuring.

The bank said the overhaul is along geographic lines of “Eastern” markets and “Western”, which will include UK high street branches.

HSBC, founded in Hong Kong in 1865, has been in the middle of rising geopolitical and trade tensions between Beijing and the US and UK.

Its biggest investor, Chinese insurer Ping An, had tried unsuccessfully to agitate for a break-up of the company last year.

Mr Elhedery, who replaced Noel Quinn, said the revamp will result in “a simpler, more dynamic and agile organisation”.

Don’t let red tape ruin AI

ARTIFICIAL intelligence is not some sci-fi fantasy — it is here already.

In San Francisco today you can take a ride with a Waymo self-driving car.

At KLARNA, we have seen how our AI customer service agents help to resolve problems in just two minutes, compared to 12 minutes before.

Our lives and the way we work are already changing and it will affect jobs at an ­accelerating pace.

Governments need to stop dragging their feet.

While we need smart regulations to keep AI in check, we can’t afford to strangle it with red tape.

The looming threat is that if our governments dither too much we will fall behind less democratic countries who do not share our values.

The answer has to be to promote progress while also offering an answer to those people impacted by the changes.

AI is already shaking up the job market — and we’ve already paused hiring more staff because of AI efficiencies.

Some jobs will change, new roles will emerge and some will disappear. Some firms talk about retraining and upskilling ­but can we really expect a 55-year-old translator to magically become a TikTok star or influencer?

That’s why governments need to wake up and step up.

While AI is driving progress, they must ensure that it benefits society as a whole, not just a select few.

Failure of duty

THE VIRGIN WINES boss has attacked government plans to hike alcohol duty as “ill-thought through and amateurishly executed policies”.

Jay Wright, chief exec of the online wine seller, said the drinks industry had been “battered beyond belief” in recent years by people with “no understanding of the effects”.

Another duty hike is feared in next week’s Budget.

Mr Wright still toasted £1.7million of profits, after a loss of £700,000 in the year to the end of June.

A cost-cutting drive saved £1.4million.

THE new Minister for Investment, Poppy Gustafsson, is launching a scheme to attract more funding into women’s sport.

She will say today that women’s sport, including football, rugby, tennis and netball, could be worth over £1billion this year alone.

LABOUR’S massive public sector pay hikes led to a record-busting September of borrowing.

The Office of National Statistics say the government has borrowed £6.7 billion more than planned this year after the third highest September on record.

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It came despite an increase in tax take due to fiscal drag meaning more workers were stung on their wages.

The stats bosses said: “While tax revenue increased, this was outweighed by increased spending, partly due to higher debt interest and public sector pay rises.”

Government borrowing rose to £16.6billion in September – £2.1billion more than a year earlier.

Borrowing for the year stood at £79.6billion, £1.2billion more than a year earlier and £6.7 billion more than forecast.

This came despite the first fall in central government benefit payments since early 2022, in part due to Labour’s decision to test the winter fuel allowance, which is paid out in November and last year cost around £2 billion.

Treasury Chief Secretary Darren Jones said the state of the public finances meant there would be “difficult decisions” in the October 30 Budget.

City firm Blick Rothenberg said “Income Tax annual receipts were “up 8.6% in the last 12 months, equating to £22.6bn more in the Treasury’s coffers.

“The main cause of the income tax increase is fiscal drag which continues to bring more people into higher rates of tax.

“This has been created by wage rises over the past 12 months and the freezing of the personal allowances and tax bands.”

Abu Dhabi-based supermarket giant Lulu Retail Holdings on Monday announced its decision to proceed with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 25 per cent of its stock in a bid to list its shares in the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). A total of 258 crore shares will be on offer, with a nominal value of US 0.014 each.

UAE retail investors (including eligible employees of the group), professional investors, and eligible senior executives can subscribe to the IPO. The subscription period will open on October 28 and end on November 5, with the final offer price to be determined through a book-building process.

The company sees a semi-annual dividend payout ratio of 75 per cent of annual distributable profits after tax, and estimates the dividend for the six months ended 31 December 2024 to be paid in the first half of 2025. In the GCC alone, Lulu has more than 240 stores across six countries.

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“Integral to our growth is the vision and ambition of the UAE, KSA and the other GCC nations where strong national leadership is enabling positive demographic and consumption trends and driving impressive economic growth,” said Lulu founder and chairman Yusuffali M.A.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming new shareholders to Lulu and are sure they will share our passion for the company and excitement for the future,” added Yusuffali.

The IPO will be done in three tranches. The first tranche is the public offering to UAE Retail Investors, including eligible employees. The second tranche is open to professional investors, and the third to eligible senior executives under the “Senior Executives Offering”.

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Lulu sees GCC retail market to continue steady growth

“With GCC retail presenting a USD 100 billion market opportunity over the next five years and our business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia primed for further growth, we are confident that Lulu will continue to be where the world comes to shop,” estimated Lulu CEO Saifee Rupawala.

The group sees positive retail growth in the near-term future for the region, based on growing youth populations, rising spending power, and climbing employment rate. It projects a growth of 4.2 per cent CAGR for the GCC grocery retail market and 4.8 per cent CAGR for the GCC modern from 2023 to 2028.

Lulu boasted a 61 per cent rise in net income of USD 11.6 crore from continuing operations for the first half of FY 2024, up 61 per cent from USD 7.2 crore from the same period a year ago. Revenue grew 5.5 per cent to USD 386.8 million (around Rs 3,252 crore).