Gulf markets’ rebound stalls after oil pulls back Page 22

Business European stocks advance in subdued Christmas trade WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2014 Page 23 Dreams surface in India slashes health budget by nearly 20% Argentina’s new oil hub Page 25 Page 24

HONG KONG: , CEO of Wanda Commercial Properties Co. opens trading during the company’s IPO at the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday. Chinese shopping mall developer Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co. starts trading on the Hong Kong bourse after the biggest initial public offering in the world by a real estate firm raised $3.7 billion. — AFP Chinese tycoon set to build more billions with IPO

BEIJING: Wang Jianlin rose from local bureau- an IPO earlier this month by selling a 13.4 per- But he is unmistakably close to Beijing, Employees are provided with three free meals lion in 2012 and reportedly seeking a stake in crat to China’s richest man by transforming a cent stake. The IPO valued the firm at $28 bil- clutching multiple official titles ranging from a day at strictly scheduled hours. Lions Gate Entertainment, the American stu- debt-laden state-owned housebuilder into the lion and ’s 44 percent post-flota- delegate to the ruling Communist Party con- Wanda executives claim the company has dio behind the “Hunger Games” franchise. sprawling Wanda Group, and the flotation of tion share of the subsidiary at $12.5 billion. gress in 2007 to a senior member of China’s “never once had a project come in late or over Last year, it acquired a 23-floor office build- one of its subsidiaries yesterday may propel Wang himself owns more than 98 percent top political discussion chamber for five years budget”, the magazine said. Dalian Wanda ing in London for a luxury $1.1 billion develop- him back up a rich list now dominated by of Wanda Group, with the remaining sliver until 2013. Wanda Group is a far cry from the Commercial Properties says it is the second- ment and bought Edificio Espana, a historic Internet moguls. held by his only son, . Wang and near-bankrupt, state-owned property devel- largest commercial property owner and oper- skyscraper in Madrid, for $330 million this Wang has penchants for karaoke and col- his wife together own around another 10 per- oper in the northeastern port of Dalian when ator in the world, with 175 property projects June. A month later, Wanda announced it lecting, and has an impressive selection of fine cent of Wanda Commercial. Wang was appointed as general manager in across China. would invest $900 million in a five-star hotel art, property projects in top markets around The company’s shares debuted Tuesday in 1988. Previously a government official in the and apartment complex in Chicago, and the world, and an ever-expanding portfolio of Hong Kong, closing down 2.6 percent from the city’s Xigang district, according to Chinese Kidman, DiCaprio, Zeta-Jones acquired a huge parcel of land in Beverly Hills. companies including cinema chain AMC and offering price at HK$46.75 ($6.03), on a media reports, he dug his first pot of gold Wang, 60, turned to culture and tourism as Through the company, Wang has also accu- yachtbuilder Sunseeker. gloomy outlook for China’s oversupplied prop- from contracts to renovate shanty houses in Wanda Group’s new growth drivers in 2009, mulated around 1,000 pieces of fine Chinese He topped the Forbes China Rich List in erty market. The parent conglomerate, which the area. As the company turned around, it when the global financial crisis dealt China’s calligraphy and painting, and last year spent 2013 with an estimated net worth of $14.1 bil- has interests in hotels, entertainment and was renamed Wanda in 1992, and the state’s real estate market a heavy blow. $28 million on Pablo Picasso’s 1950 work lion, but was displaced this year by charismatic retail, last year saw $2.06 billion in profits, stakes were gradually bought out by Wang The company has expanded into film pro- “Claude and Paloma”. Wanda became a house- Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma after he floated according to its website. directly or through companies associated with duction, theme parks, print media and art hold name across China after Wang, a diehard his e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba Group in him. The eldest son of a captain of the Chinese investment. football fan, bought a Dalian soccer club in the world’s biggest ever initial public offering ‘Military rigour’ Communist army during the civil war and At a red-carpet event last year, global A-lis- 1994 for six years and transformed it into the (IPO). Ma’s fortune is now estimated at nearly Wang has sought to downplay speculation Second World War and a veteran of the ters Nicole Kidman, Leonardo DiCaprio and strongest team in China. $20 billion. on the link between his success and his gov- People’s Liberation Army himself, Wang runs Catherine Zeta-Jones flew in to showcase But Wang’s ambitions are bigger. He told Wang dropped to number four, though his ernment ties, saying previously he wanted to Wanda Group “with military rigour and preci- Wanda’s plan for an $8.0 billion studio com- CNN earlier this year: “Our goal is to make ranking could rebound after Dalian Wanda build Wanda into a world class company sion”, Fortune magazine reported last year. plex in the eastern city of Qingdao. Wanda a brand like Wal-mart or IBM or Commercial Properties, the flagship subsidiary “depending totally on the market, not govern- Nearly all his senior staff are men and wear It has also expanded overseas, buying US Google-a brand known by everyone in the of Wang’s Wanda Group, raised $3.7 billion in ment resources”. black suits, white shirts and dark ties as a rule. cinema chain AMC Entertainment for $2.6 bil- world, a brand from China.” — AFP US stocks soar to new record, growth accelerates

NEW YORK: The Dow stock index climbed quarters,” said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN shopping season. “I don’t see anything to above 18,000 for the first time ever yesterday Financial. However, the good cheer was offset change the momentum of the market between after government data estimated third-quarter somewhat by US durable goods orders-an indi- now and year end,” Blicksilver said. The out- US economic growth at a spectacular five per- cator of business investment — which fell 0.7 standing US growth figures comes on the heels cent. The blue-chip index crossed its latest percent in November. of strong US labor and retail sales reports for threshold within moments of the market open- Low said the durable goods orders implies November. The latest US data bolsters the ing, continuing a so-called “Santa Claus rally” that fourth-quarter capital spending will sense of advantage for the giant economy as that began after last week’s US Federal Reserve decline, perhaps sharply, “suggesting block- Europe and Japan struggle to attain growth meeting. By 1615 GMT, the Dow Jones buster growth in the third quarter will be fol- and growth slows in China and other emerging Industrial Average stood at 18,040.32, up 80.88 lowed by a distinctly slower Q4.” powers. Adding to the momentum in the US points (0.45 percent). The broad-based S&P 500 has been a precipitous fall in gasoline prices, gained 4.21 (0.20 percent) to 2,082.75, while the Potential 2015 headwinds seen as a de facto tax cut for consumers. tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped The Dow was on track yesterday to close at a US gasoline prices are now $2.38 for a gallon 10.37 (0.22 percent) to 4,771.06. fresh record for the 36th time in 2014, accord- of regulator, off about 27 percent from the year- At five percent, US growth for the third quar- ing to S&P Dow Jones Indices. ago level. However, analysts cite some head- ter was the best since 2003. The figure, The latest spate of equity records follow winds for the US economy heading into 2015, described as “mind-blowing” by one analyst, today’s Fed meeting, at which the US central including a hit if major its trading partners con- was also better than the 3.9 percent previously bank kept interest rates low, gave a fairly tinue to stagnate and the dollar remains strong. estimated by the government and the 4.3 per- upbeat assessment of the economy and said it Other unknowns relate to the implications of a cent projected by analysts. would be “patient” before raising rates. crashing Russian ruble and of a huge drop in oil Spending for consumption rose 3.2 percent, US stocks could climb higher still in the com- prices that weighs on US energy investment the biggest jump since the end of 2013. ing days as money managers who are under- and the economic prospects of oil-exporting Analysts also cited strong growth in defense invested in equities look to capitalize on the nations. Most of all, market watchers say US NEW YORK: An electronic display shows the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 18,000 on spending and exports. positive sentiment, said Mace Blicksilver, direc- stocks could stumble once the US Fed finally the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, yesterday. US stocks pushed further The US growth figures showed “an economy tor of Marblehead Asset Management. He also does begin to raise interest rates, as it is expect- into record territory as the Dow Jones industrial average crossed past the 18,000-point firing on all cylinders for the first time in many cited a paucity of sellers given the holiday ed to do in the middle of 2015. — AFP mark for the first time. — AP