How UAE defence giant EDGE Group plans to double its exports
The UAE defence conglomerate has put an aggressive strategy in place to increase its share of exports while navigating the growing gap between East and West.
Regional Express (Rex) has reported a profit of A$9.6 million for the first half of its financial year which ended on 31 December 2009.
Revenue for the six months from 1 July-31 December last year was A$117.8 million, a 13.3% decrease compared with the A$135.8 million reported for the half-year which ended on 31 December 2008. The A$9.6 million profit from ordinary activities after tax attributable to members was down by 8.6% from the A$10.5 million reported for the same period in the previous financial year.
The first half of Rex’s 2009-10 financial year saw a reduction in available seat kilometres (ASKs) by 3.6% as frequency reductions introduced in the previous financial year – to counter reduced demand for regional travel brought about by the global financial crisis – were largely kept in place. However, the airline notes that this scaling back of capacity was insufficient to meet ailing demand, which saw passenger numbers decline by 8.8% on the prior corresponding period.
The lower passenger numbers coupled with greatly reduced freight activity, stemming from the restructure of Pel-Air, were behind the company’s revenue declining by 13.3%.
Total costs over this period reduced to A$104.9 million. This was mainly due to lower fuel and engineering costs and favourable foreign exchange gains, all of which totalled A$14.5 million.
The UAE defence conglomerate has put an aggressive strategy in place to increase its share of exports while navigating the growing gap between East and West.
The US Congress has raised concerns about how inflation rates and cuts in main acquisition programmes could affect the US military.
Washington’s ageing inventory and the pace Moscow and Beijing have been modernising their capabilities put in check the US Nuclear deterrence.
The Pentagon has been operating under temporary funding since October 2023, which has impacted its main acquisition and development programmes, increasing the capability gap between the US and China.
In 2023, defence spending increased by an unprecedented 11% across European NATO countries and Canada. Since 2014, the group has spent an additional US$600 billion on defence.
The DoD requested nearly US$850 billion to fund operations over the next fiscal year. Despite the amount being 1% higher than the FY2024 budget request, it has not covered the 3% inflation rate, which could impact the DoD’s main programmes in the medium and long term.