Gasoline price cut to NIS 7.43 liter for 95 octane
The price of gasoline fell as of midnight by 22 agorot to NIS 7.43, or about $2.8, a liter for 95 octane at self-service pumps. The drop was mainly the result of an 10.3% decline in worldwide prices for oil over the least several days. That was offset by, among other things, a five agorot increase in the marketing margin given the energy companies as well as by the strengthening of the dollar over the past month. The self-service charge was cut to 16 agorot from 21 agorot. (Itai Trilnick )
Holiday Inn returns to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
The 10 hotels in Israel bearing the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza names return to Tel Aviv Stock Exchange trading following an almost five-year absence. Shareholders of Netz Bonds yesterday approved the transfer of Africa Israel Hotels stock to the company, completing a NIS 180 million deal agreed to almost a year ago. The shares will be traded through a shell company, Amalia Holdings, Netz acquired. "Africa Israel Hotels have a great deal of potential both as [property] assets and on an operating basis," Netz CEO Tzvi Itzik said yesterday. Amalia holds a 50% stake in the hotels. Shares of Africa Israel Hotels, once a unit of Lev Leviev's Africa Israel Investments, was delisted from the TASE in November 2007. (Vadim Sviderski )
Route 6 to be extended to Lehavim at NIS 300 million cost
The Route 6 toll road will be extended southward, according to a tender published by the highway's operators yesterday. The seven-kilometer stretch will run from Rahat to the Lehavim interchange. The extension will cost NIS 300 million and take about two-and-a-half years to complete. By the end of the year, two more tenders are expected to be published for extending the highway another 11 kilometers to connect it with Route 31, which itself is being widened and improved. All told, Route 6 now runs 140 kilometers, but tenders were published last month to add another 21 kilometers in the north starting at the Ein Tut interchange at a cost of NIS 3.5 billion. (Daniel Schmil )
Israel Discount Bank profit drops 11% in first quarter
Israel Discount Bank reported an 11% drop in quarterly net profit yesterday but beat estimates as credit-loss expenses were lower than expected. Israel's third-largest bank posted first-quarter net profit of NIS 247 million shekels, down from NIS 278 million a year earlier but above a Reuters consensus of NIS 194 million. Credit loss expenses, or bad debt charges, grew 10% to NIS 123 million. Net interest income slipped 3.1% to NIS 1.1 billion. Discount said profit was also influenced by a 26% decline in the bank's share in income of affiliated companies. Tier 1 capital to risk assets ratio rose to 8.2% from 8.1 percent at the end of 2011. (Reuters)
