Daily Archives: April 27, 2011

Americas market wrap

April 27, 2011 8:37 pm by Anora Mahmudova

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Latin American markets slumped on Wednesday, with Brazilian stocks leading the falls. The MSCI Latin American index fell 1 per cent to 4,633. In Brazil, industrial stocks saw the sharpest losses of the session, but most of the selling happened before Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve held his first press conference. By the end of the session, the benchmark Bovespa index was 1.3 per cent lower at 66,264. Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

Russian oil & gas: tinkering with tax is no solution

April 27, 2011 6:55 pm by Catherine Belton

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Alexei Kudrin, Russia’s finance minister (pictured), has the nation’s oil barons in his sights once again. First, the finance ministry targeted Rosneft, saying it was scrapping tax holidays on export duties for the state oil champion’s vast east Siberian Vankor field from May 1.

Then, this week, the ministry said it was axing the tax breaks for TNK-BP’s east Siberian Verknechonskoye field and for Surgutneftegaz’s Talakan field, also in east Siberia, too. Continue reading »

Tags: commodities, infrastructure, oil & gas, tax Posted in Europe, Russia | Permalink

Electrolux: still positive on Egypt

April 27, 2011 5:29 pm by Andrew Ward

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Political unrest in Egypt has disrupted plans by Electrolux to buy Olympic Group, the country’s biggest home appliance maker, for E£2.2bn ($370m). But that doesn’t mean the Swedish company is giving up on the Arab world.

Keith McLoughlin, Electrolux chief executive, told beyondbrics he remained “cautiously optimistic” the Olympic deal would be completed this year and he was still bullish over long-term prospects for the Middle East and north Africa. Continue reading »

Tags: Arab spring, electronics Posted in Egypt | Permalink

India: death of the typewriter

April 27, 2011 4:15 pm by Akanksha Awal

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Once considered a symbol of Nehru’s modernizing India, the typewriter will soon cease to be found on store shelves.

Godrej & Boyce, one of India’s dynastic conglomerates and the world’s last manufacturer of office typewriters, stopped production of office typewriters at its factory in Pune in 2009. Since then, the company has been selling leftover stock, out of which only around 200 typewriters are left, according to a spokesperson for Godrej. Continue reading »

Tags: technology Posted in India | Permalink

AgBank boosts loans despite restraints

April 27, 2011 3:43 pm by Jonathan Wheatley

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Beijing’s attempts to slow down the rate of credit growth in China have not had much effect, if first quarter results from Agricultural Bank of China, released on Wednesday, are any guide.

China’s biggest bank by customers, which was listed last year in Hong Kong and Shanghai, increased lending by 5.2 per cent during the first quarter of 2011, according to an HKSE filing.

Tags: banking, central banks, China inflation, inflation Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

HK commodity exchange in gold debut

April 27, 2011 1:30 pm by Robert Cookson

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A Hong Kong-based commodities exchange backed by Chinese state companies and Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska plans to make its trading debut next month with a futures contract linked to gold.

The Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange is betting that the shift in financial gravity from west to east will allow it to challenge the dominance of London, Chicago and New York in global commodities markets. Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

TNK-BP: because we’re worth it

April 27, 2011 12:59 pm by Stefan Wagstyl

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Further evidence that BP’s oligarch partners in TNK-BP, its Russian joint venture, will set a high price if they decide to sell out, to allow BP to pursue its planned partnership with state-run Rosneft.

On Wednesday, TNK-BP published first quarter results, trumpeting a 72 per cent year-on-year increase in EBITDA to $3.9bn, thanks largely to soaring oil prices.

For chief executive (and lead oligarch) Mikhail Fridman it underscored “the tremendous value and promise of TNK-BP”. Want a deal, BP? Then pay the price, would seem to be the message. Continue reading »

Tags: oil & gas Posted in Russia | Permalink

LG Electronics: clinging to a dream?

April 27, 2011 12:50 pm by Song Jung-a

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LG Electronics is still suffering for its late arrival to the smartphone market and its mobile phone business is still in the red due to tepid sales. But its not all bad news: the division’s operating loss halved to Won 101bn in the first quarter, a fact that David Jung, the company’s chief financial officer, is clinging on to. Ever the optimist, Jung predicts that LG’s mobile unit will return to profit in the second half.

The company is pinning its hopes on a new lineup of smart phones such as the Optimus 2X and Optimus Black which LG hopes will help to quadruple smart phone sales to 30m units this year. Continue reading »

Tags: electronics, technology Posted in South Korea | Permalink

Chart of the week: input price inflation

April 27, 2011 12:28 pm by Valentina Romei

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Manufacturers around the world are enjoying a recovery of their order books but they also face rising input costs. And while developed and emerging markets all suffer from input inflation, emerging countries are more exposed given the greater importance of price as a factor in manufacturing competitiveness – already undermined in many EMs by strengthening currencies.

Our chart this week shows the results of a Markit survey on input prices among purchasing executives of manufacturing companies in selected economies.

Tags: chart of the week, inflation, manufacturing Posted in Global | Permalink

New York headlines

April 27, 2011 12:02 pm by beyondbrics

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* Yum targets Chinese hot pot restaurant chain Little Sheep

* Russia: rivalry at the top causes unease

* Chinese elite face curbs on US visas

* China in no mood to listen in US rights talks

* Brazilian bond issuance hits record high Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

[snap] Turkey plans Bosphorus bypass

April 27, 2011 11:12 am by Stefan Wagstyl

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There’s nothing like an election to prompt politicians to make grand promises. And Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, is no exception.

Campaigning hard for parliamentary polls on June 12, he announced on Wednesday plans to build a waterway to bypass the heavily-congested Bosphorus. The ancient line between Europe and Asia could be duplicated in the interests of modern transport. Continue reading »

Tags: transport Posted in Turkey | Permalink

Polish M&A: the coming boom

April 27, 2011 9:47 am by Alexandra Stevenson

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Economic recovery is gathering pace to central Europe and with it the lucrative business of M&A.

Deutsche Bank says in a report that corporate deal activity, which began to pick up last year, is set to grow further. And the bank has created a scorecard of top corporate targets and acquirers for deals this year. Top of the list is Poland.

Tags: economic growth, M&A Posted in Europe, Poland | Permalink

Yum in China: Colonel Sanders’s Mongolian Fried Chicken?

April 27, 2011 8:10 am by Josh Noble

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It’s a long way from Louisville to the green pastures of Inner Mongolia. But it looks like Hong Kong-listed Little Sheep – the Chinese hotpot chain and mutton producer – is about to become a full member of the US-based Yum stable, best known for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

With the mooted purchase of Little Sheep, Yum’s reincarnation as an American company with increasingly Chinese characteristics reaches a new stage. Continue reading »

Tags: food & drink Posted in China | Permalink

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beyondbrics

Daily Archives: April 27, 2011

Americas market wrap

Russian oil & gas: tinkering with tax is no solution

Electrolux: still positive on Egypt

India: death of the typewriter

AgBank boosts loans despite restraints

HK commodity exchange in gold debut

TNK-BP: because we’re worth it

LG Electronics: clinging to a dream?

Chart of the week: input price inflation

New York headlines

[snap] Turkey plans Bosphorus bypass

Further reading: revisiting communism

Polish M&A: the coming boom

Yum in China: Colonel Sanders’s Mongolian Fried Chicken?

Global equities macromap

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