Emaar Properties (Emaar) has taken steps to prepare itself for 2016, given the challenging economic environment, Mohamed Alabbar was quoted as saying at the company’s shareholders meeting held in Dubai. Those measures included significant cost cuts. Alabbar described the company’s 2016 budget as “cautious” yet mentioned that 1Q16 had been “pleasantly surprising” for Emaar, without giving details. He also mentioned that the listing for the group’s hotel unit will unlikely be in 2016. Finally, on the announced demerger in India, he stated that it would allow for higher value creation, given the full control over the operations in India, under the new setting. (Bloomberg)