Tan in a can group eyes glory in Portugal and Brazil
Forget the sunbed, creams, sprays and tablets which promise consumers a quick route to achieving the look of sun-kissed skin. For those who prefer their tanning aids over ice, help may soon be at hand.
Businessman Artur Tavares has just launched his tanning drink Sunlover in Portugal and is keen to bring his so-called “nutricosmetic” beverage to market in Brazil and the UK as soon as possible. Continue reading »
Fund flows: EM a safe haven, for now
Two trends are getting stronger with each week’s data release from EPFR, the Boston-based fund tracker. In equities, investors are moving away from country-specific and regional funds into Global Emerging Market funds. And in fixed income, they are heading out of DM and into EM funds, especially local currency ones.
What do they want? Safety. When do the want it? Now – but perhaps not in the same way for much longer. Continue reading »
Gazprom cosies up to Kazakh billionaire
Gazprom is getting personal in its battle to get ahead in Kazakhstan, the second biggest energy producer in the former Soviet Union and Russia’s closest ally in central Asia. The Russian gas monopoly has appointed Timur Kulibayev (pictured left), the billionaire son-in-law of the Kazakh president, to its board in a move that may raise eyebrows among some of its western shareholders, but won’t cause any surprise in the region. Continue reading »
Polish M&A: open the floodgates
The 18.1bn zlotys ($6.5bn) purchase of Poland’s second largest mobile operator by one of the country’s wealthiest businessmen is the biggest private transaction in Polish history and may signal a new level of activity on the Polish mergers and acquisition market.
Until now, many private Polish transactions have oscillated around the $100m mark, but the Solorz-Zak transaction had a degree of complexity unusual in what is still a relatively small market. Continue reading »
Deal of the day: Citi buys stake in Vietnamese brokerage
Vietnam’s 11-year-old stock market is some way from maturity, with daily market turnover of a mere $30m-$40m, trading dominated by rumour-driven retail investors and brokers frequently executing trades via Skype, Yahoo Chat and other unsecured internet messaging services.
But, in a sign of the market’s potential, Citigroup has become the latest international investment bank to tie-up with a local brokerage, agreeing to take a 9.9 per cent in Horizon Securities. Continue reading »
Bank of Moscow: red faces all around
News that Russia’s central bank has been forced to extend $14bn in funds to shore up a gaping hole in Bank of Moscow’s balance sheet, in the country’s biggest ever bailout, is sending shivers down investors’ spines.
If the fifth largest bank can deliver such a nasty surprise, what does it say about the quality of management, regulation and supervision in Russian banking? And what of decision-making at VTB, the bank that earlier this year won a hard-fought fight to win control of the Bank of Moscow? Continue reading »
Mexico: Interjet IPO postponed
Interjet’s decsion on Thursday to postpone its plans for an initial public offering should not be taken as a sign that things are going wrong – either with the company or with Mexico’s efforts to drum up more stock-market listings.
In an emailed statement, the country’s second-largest airline said that it had decided to put off its long-awaited listing because of a “complicated situation” in global financial markets. Continue reading »
Chávez: what next for Venezuela?
Hugo Chávez has cancer. Venezuelan markets have rallied. The grim-faced ministers in his socialist government, for now, have circled the wagons around their president – even though Chávez remains physically absent while he undergoes treatment in Cuba. Back in Caracas, the opposition has restrained their glee. That much is known. Much else is not. Continue reading »
Uganda shilling: mistaken identity?
Confusing Uganda for Afghanistan is not in your ordinary order of mistaken identity. After all, the two countries fall on different continents and even at a cursory first glance the basics are glaringly different: one is at war, one is not.
But as the Afghan central bank governor Abdul Qadeer Fitrat (pictured) fled Kabul reportedly in fear of his life, the Ugandan shilling was fast collapsing to ever new lows. Uganda’s central bank at least, thought the two events were decidedly related. Continue reading »
New York headlines
* China manufacturing at lowest in 2 years
* Chávez being treated for cancer
* Finance groups accused over Libyan losses
* Concern as Turkish growth hits 11%
* Northumbrian confirms Li Ka-shing approach
Bank of Moscow rescue cost: $14bn
The Kremlin on Friday disclosed the bill for bailing out the Bank of Moscow – the troubled bank formerly run by managers loyal to sacked Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
At $14bn it’s Russia’s largest bank rescue. The state will pick up most of the tab, which will be a relief to shareholders in VTB, the state-controlled bank, which rescued Bank of Moscow only to discover that the black hole in its books was much bigger than expected. Continue reading »
Quiet French actor in Brazilian drama
Jean-Charles Naouri is not known for putting himself in the spotlight. However the softly-spoken chief executive of French retailer Casino is likely to take centre stage in the coming days as he jets off to Brazil to fight to safeguard his company’s Brazilian assets.
Known as one of French retailing’s canniest operators, few would have expected Naouri to have been outfoxed by his Brazilian partner Abilio Diniz, who earlier this week admitted he had contacted Casino’s arch rival Carrefour to discuss a potential partnership. Continue reading »
CCP birthday gala: where’s Jiang Zemin?
As China’s top Communists gathered Friday morning on the stage beneath a giant hammer and sickle in the Great Hall of the People there was one very conspicuous absentee.
Former Chinese President and Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin (pictured) has been present at almost all major ceremonial events since he handed the country’s reins to his successor, Hu Jintao, in 2003. Continue reading »
Chávez cancer: political uncertainty
Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez has finally revealed the painful secret behind his mysterious trip to Cuba – and plunged Latin America’s biggest oil exporter into political turmoil.
Speaking on television late on Thursday, the normally-ebullient 56-year-old confirmed in sombre tones that he had undergone surgery for a cancerous tumour, was receiving further treatment and would not be returning to Venezuela any time soon. Continue reading »
Further reading: China and Pakistan’s alliance
Friday’s top picks from the beyondbrics team: Why concerns are growing about the extent of Beijing’s influence on Islamabad, and why Vodafone India has yet too make a rupee of profit. Elsewhere, why wholly foreign owned enterprises are surpassing the number of joint ventures in China. Continue reading »
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