Daily Archives: January 11, 2011

India’s iYogi plans expansion – to India

January 11, 2011 11:03 pm by beyondbrics

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By Jonathan Birchall in New York

iYogi, an Indian company that offers remote help to consumers struggling with technology problems, is planning to expand its service to customers in India and China, after the rapid success of its main business in the US.

Since its launch in 2005, iYogi has established itself as the largest subscription help service in the US, with around 400,000 customers in the US paying $170 a year for access to phone and online helplines that have been primarily staffed in India. Continue reading »

Tags: consumption, IT Posted in India | Permalink

Americas markets wrap: Mexican peso rallies on IMF loan, US demand

January 11, 2011 9:52 pm by Shannon Bond

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A more upbeat outlook for the eurozone and signs that US consumer demand is picking up boosted risk appetite today, lifting commodities prices and sending Latin American markets higher.

Mexico’s peso hit its highest level since October 2008 as the IMF approved a flexible credit line equivalent to about US$73bn. The IPC index pared early gains, however, to close down 0.91 per cent. Continue reading »

Posted in Global, LatAm | Permalink

Bullish Banamex boosts Mexico outlook

January 11, 2011 8:36 pm by Adam Thomson

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Things appear to be getting better and better for Mexico as it tries to consolidate its economic recovery and keep strong public finances in the face of continuing uncertainty on the international stage.

The first piece of good news came on Monday when the executive board of the International Monetary Fund approved a flexible credit line equivalent to about US$73bn. The amount, which is the largest such credit ever approved by the IMF, replaces a previous 12-month facility for about US$48bn and, in effect, helps to bulletproof Mexico’s public finances against external shocks.

The second piece of good news came on Tuesday when Banamex, the local arm of Citigroup and Mexico’s second-largest bank, increased its Mexico growth forecast for this year to 4.8 per cent from 3.9 per cent previously. Continue reading »

Tags: GDP Posted in Mexico | Permalink

Tsingtao to drop its international auditors

January 11, 2011 7:45 pm by Shannon Bond

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Chinese beermaker Tsingtao may become the first Hong Kong-listed company to stop using the territory’s auditors and accounting standards, if a bid to ditch its foreign auditors gains shareholder approval.

As Robert Cookson writes on ft.com, Tsingtao announced plans in a stock exchange filing last week to “[seek] shareholder approval to dismiss its foreign auditors and rely solely on mainland Chinese auditors and accounting standards to prepare its financial statements.” Continue reading »

Tags: food & drink, stock exchanges Posted in China | Permalink

CEE market wrap: equities rise on Japan pledge

January 11, 2011 6:01 pm by Ranjit Lall

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Central and eastern European stocks rose as Japan joined China in pledging in buy eurozone bonds to alleviate the region’s sovereign debt crisis. Most CEE currencies rose against the dollar.

“We are positive for the year but it’s not going to be in a straight line, there is no question that the fragility of sentiment remains,” said Richard Hunter, head of U.K. equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc in London. The news from Japan “is a positive but the concern at the front of the market’s mind is indeed Portugal.” Continue reading »

Posted in Uncategorized | Permalink

Gold in Turkey: souk or ATM?

January 11, 2011 5:45 pm by Delphine Strauss

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Turkey is about to join the select group of countries where cashpoint machines dispense solid gold.

Pioneered in Switzerland and introduced elsewhere last year including the Gulf, the gold coin machine is about to make its Turkish debut – courtesy of Islamic lender Kuveyt Turk Bank. So investors will have a choice – the souk or the ATM. Continue reading »

Tags: gold, islamic finance Posted in Turkey | Permalink

Russian food: too expensive

January 11, 2011 5:15 pm by Isabel Gorst

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Consumers in Russia are paying the price for the extreme heat wave and drought that devastated crops last year even as the country lies blanketed by snow.

Food prices have surged since last summer – and have risen more than twice as quickly in 2010 that in 2009, setting back government plans to reduce inflation as Russia enters an election year. Poor Russians have been particularly hard hit with the price of the minimum food basket rising by more than one fifth in 2010 compared with just 0.7 per cent in 2009. Continue reading »

Tags: economy, inflation Posted in Russia | Permalink

Lotos: a tricky Polish sell-off

January 11, 2011 4:36 pm by Jan Cienski

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The Polish government’s plans to sell off a majority stake in Lotos Group, the country’s second largest refiner, have received a boost with a positive report by Raiffeisen Bank.

But there is a catch. As Raiffeisen suggests, the most likely buyer of the shares is a state-run energy company from Russia, Azerbaijan or the Middle East. So a Lotos “privatisation” could simply result in swapping a Polish state shareholder for a foreign one. Continue reading »

Tags: Lotos, privatisation Posted in Poland | Permalink

Deal of the day: Chinese healthcare IT

January 11, 2011 3:56 pm by beyondbrics

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By Yiqing Wang and Yue Yang of mergermarket

A small deal can sometimes be the sign of a bigger things to come. And so it may be with the acquistion, announced on Tuesday, by Neusoft, the Chinese IT heavyweight, of Beijing Viewhigh.

The $17.2m deal represents Neusoft’s first acquisition in the medical enterprise resource planning (ERP) software market. This is a minnow of a market in China but it will surely grow. Continue reading »

Tags: health, IT, mergermarket Posted in China | Permalink

Guest post: China bubble will burst

January 11, 2011 3:00 pm by beyondbrics

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Rising wages threaten to burst China’s investment bubble, writes Peter Tasker, a veteran Asia market watcher, in Tuesday’s FT.

Tasker, who saw the Japanese boom-bust unfold 20 years ago, sees history repeating itself today in China. He says the China story “is simply another version of the “new era” thinking that has characterised every investment mania from the South Sea bubble to the dotcom frenzy”. Continue reading »

Tags: asset bubbles, China inflation, China wages, GDP, guest post, inflation, investment Posted in China | Permalink

11 for 2011: Will Nigeria reform its oil industry?

January 11, 2011 3:00 pm by beyondbrics

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By Antony Goldman of PM Consulting

It is a very Nigerian paradox. Everyone knows the oil and gas sector, the cornerstone of sub-Saharan Africa’s second largest economy, has underperformed for a generation. But while there is much common ground among most stakeholders on the severity of the illness, there is no such consensus on the cure.

In 2008, the Federal Executive Council approved a radical blueprint for the overhaul of Nigeria’s oil industry. This became the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) presented to the National Assembly in January 2009 – and there it has remained, growing ever longer and more complex, despite repeated assurances from ministers and senior officials that its passage is imminent. In 2011 this could change. Continue reading »

Tags: 11 for 2011, Shell Posted in Nigeria | Permalink

Tunisian markets: riot-free?

January 11, 2011 2:31 pm by Heba Saleh

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Tunisia has for so long been presented as an oasis of stability in a turbulent region that some might find it hard to imagine there is enough pent up anger in its small population of ten million people to fuel weeks of rioting over unemployment which began mid-December.

One need only compare Tunisia with its neighbours to understand the country’s claim to stability; to the east is unpredictable Libya under its mercurial leader Muammar Gaddafi; to the west, Algeria with its opaque regime and recent past of deadly civil strife.

But with the recent protests, should investors be concerned now that growing instability will spread to the markets? Continue reading »

Posted in Tunisia | Permalink

Seoul slams on the brakes for hot money inflows

January 11, 2011 1:56 pm by Alexandra Stevenson

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Seoul pulled another device out of its toolkit on Tuesday as it tries to slow the amount of hot money flowing into South Korea with plans to curb equity derivatives trading. As Song Jung-a reports for the FT, the Financial Supervisory Commission has introduced the new measures – which include a cap on the number of positions and a requirement to disclose large ones – in order to stabilise an increasingly volatile stock exchange. It already had a withholding tax on foreign investors’ earnings from government bonds.

According to Song, analysts believe the radical new measures are targeted at speculative foreign investors in search of high returns, as few domestic institutions hold positions of the size which these caps apply to. To read more, follow the link.

Tags: currencies Posted in South Korea | Permalink

China: a great wall of money

January 11, 2011 12:49 pm by Stefan Wagstyl

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There are plenty of worrying signs in China’s latest data that the authorities have much more to do to counter the dangers of over-heating in the red-hot economy.

As figures published on Tuesday show, China overshot its bank loan growth target in 2010 by 6 per cent, despite the highly-publicised official clamp down on credit, and saw foreign exchange reserves rise by a record $199bn in the fourth quarter, taking the total to $2,850bn. Officials need to get serious about great wall of money looming over the economy before it is too late. Continue reading »

Tags: China inflation, inflation, monetary policy Posted in China | Permalink

Vietnam: EVN mulls $1bn corporate bond

January 11, 2011 12:25 pm by Ben Bland

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The default at Vinashin, the troubled Vietnamese state-owned shipbuilder, pulled the rug from under the feet of other large state-owned enterprises hoping to tap jittery international lending markets.

But while oil and gas group PetroVietnam and coal miner Vinacomin shelved international bond issues in recent weeks, EVN, Vietnam’s cash-strapped state-owned power utility, is persevering with an oft-delayed overseas fund-raising plan. Continue reading »

Posted in Vietnam | Permalink

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beyondbrics

Daily Archives: January 11, 2011

India’s iYogi plans expansion – to India

Americas markets wrap: Mexican peso rallies on IMF loan, US demand

Bullish Banamex boosts Mexico outlook

Tsingtao to drop its international auditors

CEE market wrap: equities rise on Japan pledge

Gold in Turkey: souk or ATM?

Russian food: too expensive

Lotos: a tricky Polish sell-off

Deal of the day: Chinese healthcare IT

Guest post: China bubble will burst

11 for 2011: Will Nigeria reform its oil industry?

Tunisian markets: riot-free?

Seoul slams on the brakes for hot money inflows

China: a great wall of money

Vietnam: EVN mulls $1bn corporate bond

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