Jobs at risk again at Dubai's Shuaa Capital after latest losses

Markets Update: Shuaa Capital reports its fourth consecutive year of losses and readies for another round of job cuts, as the investment bank's troubles continue to mount.

Shuaa Capital reported its fourth consecutive year of losses and announced a further round of layoffs as its withdrew from retail brokerage operations around the Middle East.

The Dubai-based investment bank's loss for the full year was Dh293.8m, widening 31 per cent from the year earlier.

The bank's losses for the fourth quarter totalled Dh111.8m, a decrease of 40 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.

As losses continued to accumulate, the bank announced that it would reduce the total number of staff across its business to 130 as it seeks to cut costs, following two rounds of layoffs last year.

"Shuaa will be making a further headcount reduction of 55 employees, primarily from retail brokerage, in the first half of 2012," the bank said.

The layoffs would result in the bank's total number of staff being cut to less than half of their number at the start of Shuaa's "rightsizing" drive, which the bank said has so far resulted in savings of Dh46m.

The bank said that Dh129.9 million of its full-year losses were "directly attributable to the restructuring of brokerage operations."

Shuaa Capital announced last year that it would wind down its retail brokerage to focus on institutional investors and family offices, resulting in the closure of brokerage operations in Jordan and Egypt and a significantly reduced presence in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

The bank embarked on a significant management reshuffle last year, appointing Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, a member of Dubai's ruling family, as chairman in May.

In October, the bank hired Michael Philipp, formerly an executive at Credit Suisse, as its new chief executive.