Doha, Qatar - Wednesday, October 9th 2013 [ME NewsWire]

 QNB Group, the World’s Strongest Bank and the leading bank in the Middle East and North Africa, announced its results today for the nine months ended 30 September 2013. These results include the financial results of NSGB in Egypt, in which the Group concluded the acquisition of a controlling stake amounting to 97.12% in March 2013.

For the nine months of 2013 Net Profit was QR7.1 billion (USD2.0 billion), up by 14.1% compared to the same period last year.

The Group’s prudent cost control policy and strong revenue generating capability allowed it to maintain an efficiency ratio (cost to income ratio) of 20.4%, which is considered one of the best ratios among financial institutions in the region.

Total assets increased by 24.5% from September 2012 to reach QR437 billion (USD120.0 billion), the highest ever achieved by the Group. This was the result of a strong growth rate of 27.4% in loans and advan ... Read more »

ME Newswire / Businesswire

PURCHASE, N.Y. - Thursday, October 10th 2013

MasterCard (NYSE: MA) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Provus Bilisim Hizmetleri A. S. ("Provus”), Turkey’s leading independent payment solution and processing provider. The acquisition will build on MasterCard’s strategy of increasing its processing presence in high-growth markets and deliver superior processing solutions and innovative value added services for both financial institutions and customers in the emerging prepaid and mobile payments space. This transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Istanbul, Provus’s customer base includes financial institutions, telecommunication service providers and retailers. Provus’s payments solutions business includes issuer and acquirer processing, prepaid solutions and ATM processing services.

Commenting on th ... Read more »

NEW JERSEY - Wednesday, October 9th 2013 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE) The electroceuticals healthcare company, electroCore, has expanded its portfolio of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) delivery technologies by signing a development agreement with waveCore – the pioneers of externally powered VNS (xVNS) technology. waveCore has agreed to pay electroCore $14 million based on development milestones.

waveCore has the rights to a technology capable of transmitting both the signal and power from a transmitter outside the body to a miniature implanted vagus nerve electrode. waveCore, which initially secured the rights to the technology in May 2013, is a company owned by the founding shareholders of electroCore.

The first milestone payment of $2 million will be paid immediately to electroCore, to achieve the first in man pilot study. Following this milestone, a second $4 million payment will be made to achieve FDA approval of pivotal study, and the final $8 million will be ... Read more »

NIKE Brand expected to deliver nearly $10 billion in incremental revenues by FY17

BEAVERTON, Ore. - Thursday, October 10th 2013 [ME NewsWire]

Innovation Agenda Continues to Drive Strong Revenue Growth

(BUSINESS WIRE) NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) today provided an overview of its progress on key strategic initiatives to achieve sustainable, profitable long-term growth. During an investor meeting at its world headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., the Company stated it expects to deliver revenues of $30 billion by fiscal year 2015, at the top end of its previously announced fiscal year 2015 target range of $28-30 billion and shared a new fiscal year 2017 revenue target of $36 billion. Additionally the Company reaffirmed its long-term financial model of high single-digit revenue growth, mid-teens earnings per share growth and expanding returns on capital.

"NIKE, Inc. is designed to win. We’ve never been better positioned to capitalize on the opportunities ahead of us,” sai ... Read more »

CARTES Secure Connexions Event

PARIS - Tuesday, October 8th 2013 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Organized as part of the CARTES Secure Connexions Event, the SESAMES Awards reward the best technological innovations in terms of smart cards, digital security, identification, secure transactions and contactless since 1995. The projects submitted are presented to 42 jury members, international experts recognized in their field, who choose the finalists and the winners of the SESAMES Awards, in total impartiality and confidentiality of entries, thus highlighting the most dynamic and most ingenious companies. The SESAMES Awards reward the best projects in 10 categories. Since 2012, the special DISCOVERY SESAMES Award rewards the best innovation presented by a start-up company.

Success Stories

The prize winners will be announced during the SESAMES Awards Ceremony, on November 19th, 2013 in Paris (upon invitation). The ceremony will have for theme the Success Storie ... Read more »