THIS MORNING: Fuel prices are up again + Some hope for ADX’s IPO pipeline?

Good morning and welcome back, everyone, from a long and much-deserved Eid break. In case you haven’t been tuned in to the latest from the war, we have the latest updates on the on-again-off-again talks below. Other than that, we come bearing analysis of a slew of macro data released over the Eid break.

Bad news first: The uneasy standoff between the US and Iran has not yielded an agreement yet, and it’s anybody’s guess whether the fighting will continue at this point.

The war’s impact has already filtered through to prices in Dubai, which rose by the steepest rate in several years in March and April.

But the good news is: Despite the lack of clarity around the situation in the Strait of Hormuz — and several skirmishes in the Strait over the Eid break — it appears the new normal is now that ships are sailing through at their own risk, mostly by going dark. That’s how another Adnoc LNG tanker — the Umm Al Ashtan — transited the Strait earlier in the month, before reappearing off of Oman carrying LNG bound, Bloomberg reports. Adnoc has also exported three other LNG shipments from the Gulf on tankers that went dark while crossing Hormuz, the latest of which has since docked in western India.

Still far from normal: The transit adds to a small batch of recent energy shipments through Hormuz — including at least two non-Iranian oil supertankers that exited the Gulf. However, LNG flows remain far below normal. Before the war, around three LNG tankers transited the strait each day, mostly carrying Qatari cargoes.

In other good news — the UAE released 2025 GDP data, and the numbers speak of a solid growth story for the non-oil sector — very welcome news as oil price volatility and supply chain disruptions make it so that oil-dependent economies are a lot more exposed.

ALSO- Abu Dhabi investors are staying active on the global front, with MGX pouring more funds into Claude maker Anthropic, and Mubadala capitalizing on an AI stock rally by selling shares in GlobalFoundries.

PSAs

It’s the start of a new month, and that means changes to fuel prices, and a whole host of new regulations and laws coming into effect.

#1- The UAE Fuel Price Committee raised prices once again for most fuels, though diesel saw a dip to partially offset April’s massive 72.4% raise, according to a post on X.

Here’s the breakdown per liter:

• Super 98 is now AED 3.95, up from AED 3.66 in May (+7.9%);
• Special 95 is AED 3.83, up from AED 3.55 (+7.9%);
• E-Plus 91 is AED 3.76, up from AED 3.48 (+8.0);
• Diesel is AED 4.33, down from AED 4.69 (-7.7).

IN CONTEXT- Fuel prices were initially hiked in March and then raised again between 30.9-72.4% in April after Brent crude traded above USD 100 / bbl for weeks. The supply chain squeeze from the regional war drove up diesel prices in particular, meaning the 7.7% dip is a slight offset rather than a welcome relief to February’s price of AED 2.72.

The drop in diesel prices will be a relief for industry as well as logistics and delivery firms. The uptick in diesel prices has been weighing on several industries including transport, logistics, construction, and delivery services, which have had to pass it on to consumers through surcharges.

#2- Prepare to pay extra for tolls + parking in Dubai: Dubai’s road toll operator Salik and parking operator Parkin will begin collecting 5% VAT on all fees and subscription charges starting today. Salik will be adding 30 fils to the standard AED 6 crossing and 20 fils to the AED 4 crossing, it said in a bourse disclosure (pdf), while Parkin’s fees will rise by 10-50 fils depending on the location and hour (i.e. whether it’s a peak or off-peak hour).

Why? The move follows a Federal Tax Authority ruling that Salik and Parkin’s services constitute taxable supplies under the existing UAE VAT framework.

#3- A slate of new federal decree laws rewiring civil transactions, company mechanics, and the general age of maturity is also coming into effect today. The highlights are:

• The age of maturity has been dropped from 21 to 18, allowing young adults the flexibility to manage finances earlier, and individuals as young as 15 are also authorized to manage their own assets;
• Pre-contract negotiations now must be explicitly disclosed;
• New rules have been put in place for nonprofits requiring them to reinvest earnings to achieve their objectives.

Also on the logistics front: Sharjah Ports, Customs, and Freezones Authority and Sharjah’s Roads and Transport Authority has started to waive truck toll gate fees for cargo trucks entering from Oman and traveling along designated logistics corridor routes across the emirate. The exemption applies to trucks entering through the Khatmat Malaha and Al Madam border crossings, provided shipments are registered under the initiative’s approved routes.

WEATHER- Look for a high of 39°C in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi today, before the mercury cools to 29-30°C, according to our favorite weather app.

Watch this space

BANKING — UK mortgage lender MFS’s collapse could be messy for FAB: First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) may be exposed to judicial proceedings against London-based mortgage lender Market Financial Solutions (MFS), which has been linked to misappropriation of funds, the Financial Times reports.

The issue: At the heart of the problem is MFS’s owner Paresh Raja, who MFS has charged with misusing funds to fuel a “lavish lifestyle” in a USD 1.3 bn lawsuit. Khemanand Hurhangee, an accountant who the complainants say is linked to Raja, owns six property firms, all filed for administration recently. The lawsuit says the entities linked to Hurhangee and Raja are sham companies.

Where does FAB come in? One of FAB’s Swiss units provided financing to the firms for 60 properties in the UK capital, which were bought through mortgage vehicles controlled by Raja. On the bright side, about 26 properties have already been refinanced or have no currently outstanding mortgages.

IPO WATCH — Hong Kong-listed biotech firm InSilico Medicine Cayman TopCo is weighing a secondary listing on the ADX, Bloomberg reports, citing sources it says are familiar with the matter. The firm is in discussions for a potential direct listing, which could come sometime this year, after UAE-based investors took part in its Hong Kong listing in December.

Why it matters: A secondary listing from InSilico would make it the first non-Gulf player to list shares on a regional index. The region is looking to increase cross-listing with other indices, with the ADX becoming the first regional exchange to cross-list with a US-domiciled ETF last year. It’d also be a welcome boost to liquidity on the ADX given the muted IPO pipeline for UAE indices since the Iran war started.

InSilico? InSilico uses AI for drug discovery and development and has a presence in Hong Kong, China, and the US. Currently, both AI and biotech are key pillars of the UAE’s economic diversification strategy, with the country actively looking to draw sector players to the Emirates.

MEDIA — Shakeup at Sky News Arabia: Sky UK has relinquished its strategic and operational control of Sky News Arabia, leaving Abu Dhabi’s IMI as the sole operator of the JV, The Guardian reports. A multi-year brand licensing will allow the 24-hour Arabic language news program to keep its name.

Earning well is not the same as investing well — and for most mid-level executives and entrepreneurs, the gap between the two is wider than they’d like to admit. The financial landscape has shifted. Regional markets are opening up, AI is rewriting how portfolios get managed, and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are entering the conversation.

And the questions that used to feel straightforward — buy or rent, fund the startup or play it safe, finance the car now or wait it out — are harder to answer than ever.

In Issue 2 of EnterpriseAM Money Matters, we get into the decisions that don’t have easy answers, because at this stage, playing it safe is the riskiest move you can make.

Tap or click here to subscribe to the Egypt edition, delivered to your inbox Wednesday, June 3.

The big story abroad

The US-Iran diplomatic stalemate persists, despite both sides spending the weekend exchanging revisions to a draft pact that would keep a ceasefire in place. Regime-affiliated Iranian media has indicated that Washington and Tehran may wind up scrapping the potential resolution and that no definite result has been reached.

Meanwhile, on Wall Street: US investors seem unconvinced that an AI bubble is about to burst, wagering heavily on AI-related equities they believe still have untapped potential. The optimism is fueled by expected AI advances and big-ticket pledges on chips and data centers — investments expected to boost tech companies’ bottom lines.

And in business news: Berkshire Hathaway has made a USD 6.8 bn housing play, agreeing to acquire US homebuilder Taylor Morrison, marking the first multi-USD-bn acquisition under the helm of newly minted CEO Greg Abel. The move deepens the firm’s housing portfolio and puts it on its way to “unify [its] site-built homebuilding operations into a combined platform,” Abel said.

And in the tech world: Dell has premiered the XPS 13, its new low-cost offering whose prices start at USD 699. It is expected to butt heads with Apple’s MacBook Neo, another laptop marketed for its affordability.

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