Al Salam Bank (Bahrain Bourse trading code “SALAM”, Dubai Financial Market trading code “SALAM_BAH”) achieved record profitability with net profit attributable to shareholders increasing by 39.8% to US$ 156.5 million for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, up
from US$ 112.0 million in 2023. The substantial growth in profitability was predominantly driven by the strong performance of the Group’s core banking operations, subsidiaries, and associates as well as the successful acquisition of Kuwait Finance House – Bahrain (“KFH-Bahrain”), the Group’s fifth banking M&A transaction.

Maintaining its position as the largest Islamic bank in Bahrain, the Group’s balance sheet expanded significantly with total assets growing by 37.2% to US$ 18.73 billion in 2024, from US$ 13.65 billion in 2023, driven by the successful implementation of key growth initiatives in banking. The Group’s financing ... Read more »

TOKYO - Friday, 07. February 2025 AETOSWire 

(BUSINESS WIRE)--2024 Sake Export Performance

The Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (JSS) has released 2024 sake export data. The total export value reached JPY 43.5 billion, a +6% increase from the previous year, with 3.45 million cases (9L equivalent) shipped to a record 80 countries. Since 2020, export value has grown 1.8 times, the average unit price increased 1.3 times, and the number of export destinations expanded by 19. Premium sake markets have seen significant growth in the past five years.

Regionally, Asia accounted for 61% of total export value but saw a slight decline YoY. However, South Korea recorded a notable 29% growth, while Thailand and Malaysia also performed well. North America saw a 27% increase, driven by fine-dining adoption. Western Europe grew 18% YoY, expanding 2.5 times over five years due to wine industry collaborations. The UK and France, in particular, expanded appr ... Read more »

RESTON, Va. - Friday, 07. February 2025 AETOSWire Print 

(BUSINESS WIRE)--VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), a global provider of critical internet infrastructure and domain name registry services, today announced that, according to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief Quarterly Report from DNIB.com, the fourth quarter of 2024 closed with 364.3 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), an increase of 2.0 million domain name registrations, or 0.5% compared to the third quarter of 2024. Domain name registrations also increased by 4.4 million, or 1.2%, year over year.

The .com and .net TLDs had a combined total of 169.0 million domain name registrations in the domain name base at the end of fourth quarter of 2024, a decrease of 0.5 million domain name registrations, or 0.3% compared to the third quarter of 2024. The .com and .net TLDs had a combined decrease of 3.7 million domain name registrations ... Read more »