Panama flip-flops on mining reform
By Ronald Buchanan in Mexico City
The president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, heads up Latin America’s fastest growing economy, boosted by the $5.3 billion canal expansion and a string of public works projects.
But while we knew that Martinelli was a supermarket magnate, we didn’t know is he was also a circus acrobat, with a specialist in tumble turns. Continue reading »
Americas markets wrap: Brazil’s real at strongest since August 2008
The oil spike weighed on Brazilian and Mexican stocks on Friday as worries over the violence in Libya sent crude prices over $104 a barrel in New York for the first time since September 2008, raising fears over global growth. Brazil’s currency hit its strongest level more than two and a half years, prompting the government to signal further intervention may be coming. Continue reading »
Concha y Toro toasts global reach
In a recent corporate magazine, Viña Concha y Toro, the Chilean winery that is Latin America’s leading producer, splashed its 2010 highlights. They included a marketing deal with Manchester United, record sales for its Casillero del Diablo brand and a prize for its Terrunyo Carmenere 2007 wine, and Concha y Toro trumpeted them as underlining the “global reach of the Concha y Toro brand”.
Now, that global reach has stretched to the purchase of California’s Fetzer Vineyards, whose six brands include the Fetzer label, one of the top US brands by volume, and Bonterra, the best-selling US premium organic wine. The purchase was from Brown-Forman, owner of Jack Daniel’s and Southern Comfort among others, for $238m. It is the largest such acquisition in Concha y Toro’s 128-year history. Continue reading »
CEE markets wrap: equities mixed
Central and eastern European stocks were mixed on Friday, as falls in US unemployment claims were offset by increased fears that unrest in North Africa will spread to the Arabian peninsula.
CEE currencies fluctuated against the dollar, with the Russian rouble and Polish zloty up and the Turkish lira down. Continue reading »
Poland’s Agora: not enough readers
Newspaper publishers are struggling almost everywhere with declining sales. But in Poland their predicament is particularly acute.
According to industry numbers released this week, Gazeta Wyborcza, the flagship daily of Agora, a big newspaper conglomerate, saw average daily sales fall 2 per cent year-on-year to 331,000 copies. In January 2008 average sales were 417,000 while in January 2007 they were 477,000. The peak was over 670,000. Continue reading »
Political risk: a heat map
In recent weeks, there’s been plenty of opportunity to reconsider the realities of political risk – and the possibilities of contagion.
In a report entitled The political and social unrest index – who’s next?, RBC bank has put all the info together on a map (click image to enlarge), with red showing the potential hot spots and green the cool havens of safety:
RBC political and social unrest heat map
WPP’s ‘premier league’ markets
Sir Martin Sorrell, head of the marketing giant WPP, likes to call emerging markets his “premier league” teams.
True to that billing, the WPP chief executive said on Friday that its operations in Bric and Next 11 countries have begun to taken over from the US and UK as engines of sales growth. Announcing WPP’s 2010 financial results, Sorrell also said the group had not seen evidence of rising inflation damaging consumption in emerging markets. Continue reading »
Turkey’s monetary policy experiment: under investigation
Turkey’s banking regulator is giving verbal warnings to banks whose lending is growing faster than the 20-25 per cent the central bank thinks is sustainable.
This week’s admission by the banking regulation and supervision agency (BDDK) suggests that Turkey’s monetary policy experiment, aimed at controlling a swelling current account deficit, has not produced convincing results. Continue reading »
China’s future in Africa, after Libya
By 2015, China will be investing an eye-popping $50bn per year in Africa and bilateral trade with the continent will be $300bn annually, according to research from Standard Bank.
But the future of Chinese companies in Africa may be under review, given the way that recent events in Libya have played out. China had a large presence there: more than 30,000 Chinese workers were living and working in Libya before the unrest broke out, according to Chinese officials. Continue reading »
Limak’s Istanbul listing: the right timing?
Istanbul’s stock exchange has seen no shortage of Turkish listings of late, as companies line up to list, keen to take advantage of investors’ interest in one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies. On Thursday, Limak group became the latest to apply for an initial public offering.
The conglomerate plans to float a stake of up to 30 per cent of Limak Yatirim, an investment unit bundling together its infrastructure businesses – including power generation and distribution, and its operation of Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport. Continue reading »
Hungary wants a face lift
As beyondbrics can reveal, Hungary has appointed Financial Dynamics, a London financial PR firm, to help restore its battered public image and persuade the investment community that economic policy is on the right track.
Presumably ministers have taken full account of FD’s experience in advising the crisis-hit governments of Greece and Iceland as well as debt-laden Dubai World – although it’s unlikely either FD or Budapest would wish you to dwell on the comparison. Continue reading »
Bank Indonesia, dovish for now
Indonesia’s central bank held rates steady on Friday, apparently comforted by an ever so slight easing of inflation last month. But inflation is still nearly two percentage points above the bank’s target and economists had been looking for tough action.
“It’s clear the market dislikes wishy-washy handling of inflation”, said Nizam Idris, an emerging market strategist at UBS. “Bank Indonesia can afford to be more aggressive. There are record foreign inflows and the risk of hot money is there. If you can’t send a hawkish message now, then when?” Continue reading »
Asia markets wrap: equities rise further
Asian stocks rose for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, as falling oil prices and a reduction in US unemployment claims buoyed investors.
In currency markets, the Korean won rallied against the dollar, with the Indian rupee and Indonesian rupiah also enjoying gains. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* China to boost military spending
* UK freezes Libyan wealth fund assets
* Brazil claims it is fifth largest economy in world
* Obama close to Mexican trucks deal
* Balfour Beatty eyes expansion into China Continue reading »
Further reading: is Turkey’s democracy receding?
Friday’s top picks from the beyondbrics team: can Egypt learn from Indonesia, what the fall of communism can tell us about rebuilding the Middle East, a Chinese appeal for equal rights for migrants. Continue reading »
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