Mexico auto: all revved up
It was Bruno Ferrari who set the rumour mill into top gear. During a visit to a business forum, the Mexican trade minister said in a press interview that new investments in his country’s auto industry would be soon on the way. About $1.5bn of them, in fact.
Ferrari said he had been worried about a possible slowdown in investments in the Mexican auto industry. “But the opposite has turned out to be true,” he added. Continue reading »
Argentine inflation – even lower than you thought
Just imagine. Inflation in Argentina is not only under control, but actually falling significantly. That is what the government says, at least.
Argentina’s official inflation data for May came as no surprise – prices in the month rose 0.7 per cent compared with April. That was about half the 1.5 per cent rate reported by the “Congress CPI”, an average of eight inflation indices produced by private consultants who have been fined by the government for allegedly misleading the public with incorrect data. Continue reading »
Russian oil & gas: damned both ways
It was somehow appropriate that the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russia’s annual economic showcase, should kick off with a session on the outlook for world energy demand. But the news for Russia was distinctly mixed.
The discussion took place as Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao struggled back in Moscow to thrash out an agreement over prices and terms of a long-delayed gas supply deal. They had hoped to sign the deal in St Petersburg on Friday, as they together kick off the forum’s main events. Continue reading »
Tough sell for Gulf equities
From Dubai’s successful $500m 10-year dollar-denominated bond sale to Majid Al-Futtaim Holding’s plans for a $2bn global bond programme – gulf headlines this week (ex OPEC) have touted the resurgent strength of the UAE bond markets.
Next week though, equities will dominate the local headlines – and the news may not be so positive. Continue reading »
A word from the guys who are shorting Chinese reverse mergers
Shorters of overseas-listed Chinese stocks are coming out of the woodwork and they’re more shameless than ever. At an event in Bevery Hills devoted entirely to reverse mergers, a group of short sellers – many of whom are producing research alleging Chinese companies are fraudulent, and then taking positions against them to profit from share price falls – grabbed the chance to broadcast their success.
“This is harvest time for our side. If you don’t see a bunch of really wealthy guys up here, you’re not looking close,” one investor said, according to Reuters. Continue reading »
On the face of it, the announcement that negotiations were to begin on creating Africa’s largest trading bloc should be seen as a boon for the continent at a time when investors are increasingly talking up its prospects.
Bringing together members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), the East African Community (EAC) and the South African Development Community (SADC), the union would include 26 countries, cover a population of nearly 600m people and have a combined gross domestic product of around $1,000bn. Continue reading »
China in Hungary: a matter of Wen
Hungary pulled off a big coup on Wednesday when it was announced that Chinese premier Wen Jaibao will visit Budapest next week as part of a five-day European tour.
Wen’s subsequent appointments in the UK and Germany will doubtless attract more attention from the world’s media, given the eurozone’s present woes. Continue reading »
The Ugandan shilling hit at all-time low against the dollar on Wednesday, the same day remarks about fiscal indiscipline from the country’s central bank governor saw the FT hit local headlines. The shilling fell a further 0.5 per cent on Thursday.
The interview with Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, central bank governor and effective head of Uganda’s economy since the 1980s, revealed cracks in a 25-year effort to pursue macroeconomic stability that has for years paid off, delivering consistently high growth rates. Continue reading »
Poland’s mysterious media mogul
There are as many foundation myths about Zygmunt Solorz-Zak’s businesses as the mysterious Polish media tycoon has had names – but the most common has him getting his start by selling candles outside a cemetery in his native Radom to pious Poles off to decorate their family graves.
Having left communist Poland and changed his name several times – Solorz comes from one wife, Zak from another – Solorz-Zak returned after the communists fell and is now on the brink of striking the biggest deal in his career: the $6.6bn takeover of Polkomtel, Poland’s second largest mobile telephone operator. Continue reading »
LSE to India Inc: come-hither IPOs
The London Stock Exchange couldn’t have picked a better time to lure Indian companies to list on Europe’s biggest bourse.
Tuesday’s decision by the Reserve Bank of India to hike interest rates for the 10th time in 15 months to tackle inflation could convince many industrialist – worried by the higher borrowing costs at home – to go for a listing in London to raise cash. Continue reading »
India: A queasy feeling about inflation
India’s battle against inflation has earned Asia’s third largest economy the reputation as the world’s most aggressive tightener of monetary policy over the past 18 months.
The Reserve Bank of India has raised benchmark lending rates 10 times since March 2010. More is certain to come, so long as inflation remains untamed. In fact, the next wave of tightening could come within six weeks. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* Samsonite drops 10% on HK debut
* Fears mount over scale of Turkey’s deficit
* Tencent plans $3bn open platforms
* US investment in China drops 24 percent
* GVK Power to raise $1.2bn debt for Hancock Assets buy Continue reading »
Prada faces choppy debut
Could the timing of Prada’s HK IPO be any worse? Asian markets had a torrid day on Thursday, with the Hang Seng among the biggest fallers.
Meanwhile debt worries in Greece appear to be deepening, hitting global sentiment. And then there’s Samsonite – which debuted on the market amid much fanfare, only to utterly flop on day one, closing down over 8 per cent. Continue reading »
Bosideng arrives in London
Is anyone talking about investing in the European retail market these days? It’s all about China, India, emerging markets, right? Apparently not for Bosideng, a Chinese maker of down jackets, who bought a six-storey property near Oxford Street in London for just over £20m pounds on Thursday.
With more and more Chinese property buyers investing in the UK property market, could Bosideng’s acquisition also be interpreted as a financial investment? Continue reading »
Further reading: Taxing Thaksin
Thursday’s best picks from the beyondbrics team: Why Thaksin Sinawatra is still haunting Thailand and why Syria’s opposition face an uphill struggle. Elsewhere, 20 ways to improve Russia’s investment climate.
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