Latest news with #Ghanem
See - Sada Elbalad
6 days ago
- Climate
- See - Sada Elbalad
Cairo Temperatures to Exceed 40°C as Heatwave Peaks Monday
H-Tayea Egypt's Meteorological Authority has warned that Monday will mark the peak of the current heatwave, with temperatures in Greater Cairo expected to exceed 40°C in the shade, and soar to 43–44°C in Upper Egypt, according to Dr. Manar Ghanem, spokesperson for the authority. Speaking during a televised interview on Al-Hayat TV, Dr. Ghanem explained that such extreme temperatures are typical for late May and early June, which are historically among the hottest periods of the year in Egypt. However, a noticeable drop in temperatures is expected starting Monday night into Tuesday, with highs in Cairo falling by 7 to 9 degrees, stabilizing between 31–33°C through the end of the week. The Meteorological Authority also warned of dust and strong winds, particularly in the afternoon, advising citizens to take precautions, especially those with respiratory conditions. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies
See - Sada Elbalad
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Donia Samir Ghanem and Mohamed Mamdouh's Film "Rocky El Ghalaba" Sets Release Date
Yara Sameh We're just a few months away from a new film from Egyptian stars Donia Samir Ghanem and Mohamed Mamdouh. Ghanem and Mamdouh's latest feature film 'Rocky El Ghalaba' has been set for a theatrical release on July 30. Mohamed Tharwat, Mohamed Radwan, and Bayoumi Fouad are also on board to star. It is scripted by Karim Youssef, directed by Ahmed El Gendy, and produced by Mohamed Ahmed El Sobky. "Rocky El Ghalaba" marks the second collaboration between Ghanem and Mamdouh after 2022's film " Taslim Ahali ", which also witnessed Ghanem making her last onscreen appearance. The actress was born on January 1, 1985 into a legendary showbiz family – she is the daughter of renowned actor Samir Ghanem and actress Dalal Abdulaziz; her sister, Amal— known as Amy— is also an actress. Ghanem's talents appeared when she was a child, participating in school plays and shows. The actress made her acting debut in 2001's TV series 'Leladala Wogouh Katheera' (Justice has many faces). In 2005, Ghanem made her first film appearance in renowned comedy actor Mohamed Henedi's film 'Ya Ana Ya Khalty'. She released her first song 'Farh el Sen' in 2010. In 2015, she was a judge on season 4 of 'The X Factor' Arabia version along with Lebanese singers Elissa and Ragheb Alama. Ghanem is best known for her work on the television shows 'Leladala Wogouh Katheera', 'El Kabeer Awy', 'Lahfa', 'Nelly and Sherihan', 'In Lala Land', 'Badal el hadouta 3', and "Aicha Aldor". On the film side, her notable film credits include 'El-Farah', 'You Fly', 'Ezbet Adam', 'La Taragoa Wala Esteslam', 'X-Large', and '365 Days of Happiness'. read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies
Sydney Morning Herald
19-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
One of Brisbane's best restaurant groups takes on iconic rural SEQ pub
Eating out Food The 1905-built venue has been given a sympathetic facelift but now features an elevated menu of pub classics, and its own brewpub and sunny beer garden. Ghanem Group has bought – wait, what? The Commercial Hotel in Boonah? The Brisbane-based restaurant group is known for show-stopping restaurants and bars such as Donna Chang, Iris, Blackbird and Byblos, among a bunch of others. Reopening The Fox Hotel in South Brisbane or even expanding to Melbourne to create a Flinders Lane take on Blackbird – projects that were both announced in March – makes sense for the Ghanems. But a beloved country pub 90 minutes out of the CBD? Surely locals would be up in arms. Thing is, the Ghanems are locals. In 2021 they purchased a farm wedged up against the ranges in Tarome, to the west of Boonah. 'During COVID, we wanted an escape from the city,' Ghanem Group director Adonis Ghanem says. 'The farm is right up there against the mountains, overlooking Boonah and Kalbar in the Scenic Rim. So it's a really, really beautiful place. It's almost like a family retreat, where we all go and the kids ride around on their bikes on the weekends. We have a bit of cattle there and some beautiful spring water and creeks running through the property.' And the Commercial Hotel, the 1905-built, heritage listed timber pub that overlooks the intersection of High and Park streets, with its distinctive exposed framing and open second storey verandahs with lace iron ballustrading, was very much a local purchase, made on the back of some old-fashioned gumshoeing. 'I started coming out here almost every weekend,' Ghanem says. 'I'd come into town to the IGA and Mitre 10 and what have you, and I'd always pop into the pub to get some takeaway and have a cold beer. 'Nehme [Ghanem, Adonis's brother and fellow director of the group] and I were interested in having maybe a rural pub, and something close to the farm. And it just came together by chance, almost. 'We actually went door knocking and it took us just over a year of chatting with the previous owners. It was almost like they were interviewing us, making sure we were the right people to sell to.' The Ghanems kept the purchase on the down low from the food media, but that was easy to do: for the first year, they ran the pub as is, in order to understand how regulars interacted with the venue day-to-day. Even now, after a sympathetic renovation, with most of the changes under the hood. There's been a gentle facelift of the bistro, new furniture and bathrooms, new lighting and improved accessibility. There's also an upgraded kitchen serving a reworked menu designed by group exec chef Jake Nicolson that spruces up traditional pub classics. Expect dishes such as house-made fish fingers and chips with a soft herb tartare and crushed peas, slow-cooked lamb shank pot pie with root vegetables and a rosemary and onion gravy, and a tandoori duck curry served with naan bread and basmati rice. 'The biggest challenge was not making the menu too big,' Ghanem says. 'Because there are so many pub classics you could potentially put on there. But Jake is from country Victoria, so he was really at home tapping into the nostalgia of country cooking.' The Ghanems' game changer for the pub, though, is the addition of a new craft brewery, Boonah Brewing Co, which occupies the old post office section on the Park Street side of the building, and an adjacent beer garden. It's already pouring a mid-strength and an alcoholic ginger beer, with an additional four core brews – including a pilsner, an Australian XPA and an Italian-style lager made with specially grown Italian barley – to come on tap over the next weeks. 'We've always wanted to do a brewery and it was a great opportunity to add to the building,' Ghanem says. 'It wasn't about changing the public bar but adding an extra dimension to the site. 'We're using spring water from the farm in the beer, and then the beer mash, we're taking back to the farm to feed the cattle. So there was a nice opportunity to close the loop there.'
The Age
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
One of Brisbane's best restaurant groups takes on iconic rural SEQ pub
Eating out Food The 1905-built venue has been given a sympathetic facelift but now features an elevated menu of pub classics, and its own brewpub and sunny beer garden. Ghanem Group has bought – wait, what? The Commercial Hotel in Boonah? The Brisbane-based restaurant group is known for show-stopping restaurants and bars such as Donna Chang, Iris, Blackbird and Byblos, among a bunch of others. Reopening The Fox Hotel in South Brisbane or even expanding to Melbourne to create a Flinders Lane take on Blackbird – projects that were both announced in March – makes sense for the Ghanems. But a beloved country pub 90 minutes out of the CBD? Surely locals would be up in arms. Thing is, the Ghanems are locals. In 2021 they purchased a farm wedged up against the ranges in Tarome, to the west of Boonah. 'During COVID, we wanted an escape from the city,' Ghanem Group director Adonis Ghanem says. 'The farm is right up there against the mountains, overlooking Boonah and Kalbar in the Scenic Rim. So it's a really, really beautiful place. It's almost like a family retreat, where we all go and the kids ride around on their bikes on the weekends. We have a bit of cattle there and some beautiful spring water and creeks running through the property.' And the Commercial Hotel, the 1905-built, heritage listed timber pub that overlooks the intersection of High and Park streets, with its distinctive exposed framing and open second storey verandahs with lace iron ballustrading, was very much a local purchase, made on the back of some old-fashioned gumshoeing. 'I started coming out here almost every weekend,' Ghanem says. 'I'd come into town to the IGA and Mitre 10 and what have you, and I'd always pop into the pub to get some takeaway and have a cold beer. 'Nehme [Ghanem, Adonis's brother and fellow director of the group] and I were interested in having maybe a rural pub, and something close to the farm. And it just came together by chance, almost. 'We actually went door knocking and it took us just over a year of chatting with the previous owners. It was almost like they were interviewing us, making sure we were the right people to sell to.' The Ghanems kept the purchase on the down low from the food media, but that was easy to do: for the first year, they ran the pub as is, in order to understand how regulars interacted with the venue day-to-day. Even now, after a sympathetic renovation, with most of the changes under the hood. There's been a gentle facelift of the bistro, new furniture and bathrooms, new lighting and improved accessibility. There's also an upgraded kitchen serving a reworked menu designed by group exec chef Jake Nicolson that spruces up traditional pub classics. Expect dishes such as house-made fish fingers and chips with a soft herb tartare and crushed peas, slow-cooked lamb shank pot pie with root vegetables and a rosemary and onion gravy, and a tandoori duck curry served with naan bread and basmati rice. 'The biggest challenge was not making the menu too big,' Ghanem says. 'Because there are so many pub classics you could potentially put on there. But Jake is from country Victoria, so he was really at home tapping into the nostalgia of country cooking.' The Ghanems' game changer for the pub, though, is the addition of a new craft brewery, Boonah Brewing Co, which occupies the old post office section on the Park Street side of the building, and an adjacent beer garden. It's already pouring a mid-strength and an alcoholic ginger beer, with an additional four core brews – including a pilsner, an Australian XPA and an Italian-style lager made with specially grown Italian barley – to come on tap over the next weeks. 'We've always wanted to do a brewery and it was a great opportunity to add to the building,' Ghanem says. 'It wasn't about changing the public bar but adding an extra dimension to the site. 'We're using spring water from the farm in the beer, and then the beer mash, we're taking back to the farm to feed the cattle. So there was a nice opportunity to close the loop there.'
Daily News Egypt
17-05-2025
- Business
- Daily News Egypt
HDB reports EGP 4.82bn net profit in Q1 2025, launching new strategy with strong momentum
The Housing and Development Bank (HDB) has kicked off its 2025–2030 strategic plan with a strong financial performance in the first quarter of 2025, posting substantial growth across all key metrics and delivering its highest-ever quarterly net profit. The bank's standalone financial results for Q1 2025 show a remarkable rise in pre-tax profits and provisions to EGP 6.484bn, up from EGP 3.631bn in the same period last year. This reflects an increase of EGP 2.853bn and a growth rate of 79%. Net profit after income taxes reached EGP 4.821bn, nearly doubling from EGP 2.426bn in Q1 2024—an increase of EGP 2.395bn or 98.7%. Strategic Vision and Operational Excellence Commenting on the results, Hassan Ghanem, CEO and Managing Director of HDB, emphasized that the performance is a direct outcome of the bank's new strategy, launched in early 2025. 'Our 2025–2030 strategy aims to position HDB among the top banking choices in Egypt's financial sector. These strong results signal we are on the right path,' he said. He explained that the bank has focused heavily on improving operational efficiency, managing funding costs, and optimizing resource allocation to enhance long-term profitability. These efforts led to a 79% increase in net operating income, which reached EGP 7.573bn by the end of March 2025, up from EGP 4.231bn a year earlier. The strategy also places significant emphasis on customer satisfaction, with the bank striving to offer tailored solutions for current and prospective clients. This customer-centric approach has contributed to expanding HDB's customer base, strengthening trust, and increasing its market share across a variety of financial products. Customer deposits stood at EGP 135bn at the end of the first quarter. Of this, corporate deposits totaled EGP 67.134bn, while individual deposits reached EGP 67.88bn, reflecting strong confidence in the bank's financial offerings. Steady Asset Growth and Diversified Lending Ghanem confirmed that HDB's continued efforts to reinforce its position in the Egyptian banking sector have translated into sustainable asset growth. Total assets reached EGP 176.806bn by the end of March 2025, supported by notable increases in the bank's loan portfolios. Total loans stood at EGP 58.701bn, reflecting a 4.9% growth rate. The corporate loan portfolio increased by EGP 1.694bn, or 6%, to reach EGP 30.055bn, while retail loans rose by EGP 1.033bn, or 3.7%, to EGP 28.645bn. This balanced growth demonstrates the bank's commitment to supporting a wide range of economic sectors while ensuring high credit standards. The bank's asset quality also saw improvements, with the coverage ratio rising to 151.8% by the end of March 2025, compared to 137.1% at the close of 2024. This indicates enhanced risk management and credit discipline. The loan-to-deposit ratio climbed to 43.5%, up from 38.6% at the end of 2024, reflecting stronger credit expansion. Simultaneously, the bank recorded a 77.4% rise in revenue from loans and similar income streams, while the cost of deposits and similar obligations rose by 59.6%. This contributed to an 86.4% surge in net interest income, which reached EGP 6.932bn in Q1 2025, up from EGP 3.720bn. Profitability and Capital Strength HDB's profitability ratios improved significantly in Q1 2025. The return on average equity rose to 78.04%, compared to 49.01% in Q1 2024, while the return on average assets reached 10.83%, up from 6.37%. These figures underscore the bank's ability to maximize shareholder returns while efficiently utilizing its asset base. The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at 30.77%, comfortably exceeding the Central Bank of Egypt's minimum regulatory requirements. This highlights the bank's robust capital position and its ability to absorb potential shocks while pursuing growth. Consolidated net profits, including the bank's subsidiaries and affiliated companies, also showed strong performance. Net consolidated profit reached EGP 4.959bn after taxes by the end of March 2025, up from EGP 2.808bn in the same period in 2024—an increase of EGP 2.151bn or 77%. Ghanem noted that this confirms the bank's effective strategy in expanding its group-wide operations and boosting investments. Digital Transformation and Innovation In line with its strategic priorities, HDB has accelerated its digital transformation initiatives to meet evolving customer expectations and improve service delivery. 'We have launched a comprehensive digital expansion strategy designed to build an integrated, innovative, and flexible digital banking ecosystem,' Ghanem said. The bank is working closely with leading fintech companies to develop new solutions and enhance customer experience, including upgrades to its technological infrastructure. As a result, the number of internet and mobile banking users rose by 5% in Q1 2025 compared to the end of 2024. Meanwhile, mobile and online transactions increased by 8%, signaling growing adoption of digital channels among HDB clients. These investments in digital platforms are intended not only to improve convenience but also to enable data-driven insights and personalized banking, in line with the bank's vision for future-ready financial services. Commitment to Sustainability and Community Impact Ghanem also underscored the bank's commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. HDB has actively financed a range of sustainable projects, aligning with Egypt's broader goals for green economic development. The bank allocated EGP 7.791bn in financing across various sustainable finance segments, including corporate lending, syndicated loans, and SME financing. These investments support projects that comply with environmental sustainability criteria and contribute to long-term economic resilience. 'Our goal is not just profitability, but responsible growth that supports national priorities and adds long-term value to society,' Ghanem said. He added that the bank's 2025–2030 strategy places significant emphasis on developing human capital. 'People are our greatest asset. We are investing in training, leadership development, and inclusive talent policies to maintain a high-performing, agile workforce.' Social Responsibility at the Core Beyond its financial ambitions, HDB continues to invest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, particularly in education and healthcare—two pillars that Ghanem described as vital for sustainable societal development. The bank has intensified its community engagement efforts under the new strategy, expanding partnerships and initiatives that contribute to inclusive growth and social well-being. 'Our CSR efforts are an integral part of our strategic identity. Supporting health and education is not just a duty—it's a long-term investment in the future of our society,' Ghanem concluded.
