Daily Archives: October 27, 2011

Brazil Inc: not cheering for a weak real

October 27, 2011 10:25 pm by Samantha Pearson

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When Brazil’s central bank stepped into the market to defend the country’s weakening currency last month, many were a little bemused.

After all, the country’s finance minister, Guido Mantega, has spent the best part of this year waging a currency war against the dollar and complaining about just how strong the Brazilian real is.

But all became a little clearer on Wednesday night. Vale, the Brazilian mining giant, shocked analysts by reporting an 18 per cent plunge in third-quarter net profits. And the culprit? A $2.19bn currency loss and another $568m hit on derivatives related to foreign exchange and interest rate bets. Continue reading »

Tags: Brazilian companies, currencies, EM currencies sell-off, real, Vale Posted in Brazil, LatAm | Permalink

EM markets wrap: bouncing back

October 27, 2011 7:45 pm by David Keohane

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Emerging markets soared on Thursday as a belief that the eurozone might have finally come to grips with its problems pushed markets upwards. Whether this belief, and its accompanying market exuberance, will remain is yet to be seen but for now the world’s investors are in confident mood.

Central and eastern European markets, with their heavy links to the euro market, had a particularly impressive day. Hungary’s flagship Bux index was the regions biggest gainer as it continued to extend its rally, closing up 3.82 per cent – its highest close in seven weeks. Hungary’s forint had gained 3.47 per cent against the dollar at pixel time. Continue reading »

Tags: markets Posted in Europe, LatAm | Permalink

Tycoons square up over Russian rail

October 27, 2011 6:50 pm by Courtney Weaver

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On Friday – two of Russia’s most powerful men will face off in an auction for Freight One, the state rail car operator, with opening bids starting at a whopping $4bn.

On one side is Vladimir Lisin, the steel magnate and Russia’s richest man with an estimated wealth of $24bn, according to Forbes. On the other is Gennady Timochenko, owner of oil trader Gunvor and an ally of Vladimir Putin. (The two co-founded a judo club in St Petersburg together.)

So who will walk away with the prize? Continue reading »

Posted in Europe, Russia | Permalink

Kazakh miners’ gold dilemma

October 27, 2011 6:10 pm by Isabel Gorst

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Kazakhstan’s National Bank took metals investors by surprise this summer when it announced plans to buy up all the country’s gold production to reduce exposure to the US dollar.

While it makes sense to stockpile gold in uncertain times, the move is having a negative impact on Kazakhstan’s mining industry.

The National Bank has not yet reached an agreement with gold producers on how much it will pay for the precious metal leaving mining companies with gold on inventory. Continue reading »

Tags: gold, mining Posted in Asia, Kazakhstan | Permalink

Croatia: corruption trial overshadows EU accession

October 27, 2011 5:30 pm by Neil MacDonald

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Croatia’s former prime minister, Ivo Sanader, goes on trial for corruption on Friday, bringing a new spotlight to bear on potentially unsolved transparency problems in the next European Union member state.

Sanader stands accused of accepting bribes from Austria’s Hypo Alpe Adria bank in 1995, when he was deputy foreign minister and Croats were fighting a war for independence from the former Yugoslavia. In a separate case, he is charged with taking bribes from MOL, the Hungarian oil company, in 2008, in his second term as prime minister. Sanader denies any wrongdoing in cases that will be widely watched by investors in Croatia and abroad. Continue reading »

Tags: CEE, corruption Posted in Croatia, Europe | Permalink

Poland: media mogul draws first blood

October 27, 2011 4:56 pm by Jan Cienski

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It hasn’t taken long for the owner of Rzeczpospolita, Poland’s leading business daily, to make his mark on his new media property.

On Thursday he fired Pawel Lisicki, the paper’s editor in chief since 2006. Continue reading »

Tags: media Posted in Europe, Poland | Permalink

Poland: struggling to tune in to TVN

October 27, 2011 3:47 pm by Jan Cienski

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A confusing statement announcing talks on a strategic partnership between Poland’s TVN television network and France’s Canal Plus sent shares of the Polish broadcaster down sharply on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on what was otherwise a strong day for the bourse.

On a day when the exchange’s blue chip WiG20 index was up by 3.3 per cent in late trading, shares in TVN (TVN:WSE) fell by as much as 4.6 per cent before recovering later, mainly because of the uncertainty over what the announcement meant. Continue reading »

Tags: media Posted in Global, Poland | Permalink

India’s super rich get a little poorer

October 27, 2011 3:04 pm by James Fontanella-Khan

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What goes up, must come down. And so it is with India’s super rich. According to the Forbes 2011 rich list, India’s 100 richest people have collectively lost 20 per cent of their net wealth since last year’s rankings.

The Ambani brothers were among the biggest losers. Anil, the youngest of the two billionaire siblings, saw his wealth plummeted to $5.9bn from $13.3bn a year ago while his estranged elder brother Mukesh Ambani, who remains the richest man in the country, saw his net-worth drop $4.4bn to $22.6bn. Continue reading »

Tags: Ambanis, rich list Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

China: growing taste for European m&a

October 27, 2011 2:09 pm by Denise Law

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Chinese companies are increasing their appetite for corporate acquisitions in Europe.

As Jamil Anderlini writes in today’s FT, the Rhodium Group, an economic consultancy, predicts Chinese groups will invest up to $1,000bn in overseas acquisitions over the next decade, with a big slice of this investment heading to Europe. Figures from Dealogic show the taste for Europe is already developing rapidly – with Europe accounting for a full 30 per cent of Chinese overseas m&a in the year to date, up from just 6 per cent for the same period last year. Continue reading »

Tags: M&A Posted in Asia, China, Europe | Permalink

New York headlines

October 27, 2011 11:49 am by beyondbrics

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* EU reaches agreement on Greek bonds

* Qatar joins Mexico with oil hedge

* Infosys says seeks acquisitions worth up to $700m

* Former Goldman board member indicted Continue reading »

Posted in Global | Permalink

Hong Kong finance: job vacancies

October 27, 2011 11:32 am by Robert Cookson

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Jobseekers, take note. The financial industry may be shedding thousands of employees in New York and London, but so far the wave of cuts has yet to crash on the shores of Hong Kong, Asia’s pre-eminent financial centre.

Until recently, the pattern of hiring and firing in Hong Kong’s securities industry was something of a mystery. No longer – thanks to David Webb, a corporate governance activist and an expert in computer coding. Continue reading »

Tags: employment, financial centres Posted in Asia, China, Global | Permalink

India: Rahul-flation

October 27, 2011 10:49 am by Neil Munshi

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Why is the scandal-hit Indian government seemingly doing so little about inflation? Because it’s so busy worrying about elections.

That’s the view of many commentators, among them blogger R Jagannathan, on Firstpost.com, who has even coined a phrase to describe India’s persistently high level of price increases. Rahul-flation, he calls it, after Rahul Gandhi, the scion to India’s Gandhi family political dynasty. It could catch on. Continue reading »

Tags: India inflation, Indian politics Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

The ‘barefoot’ lawyer and the web

October 27, 2011 10:22 am by Kathrin Hille

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In theory, locking a blind man away in a house without phone or internet connection should be enough to make him disappear. But for the Chinese authorities, that task appears to become more difficult by the day.

Chen Guangcheng, a blind human rights lawyer, has been under house arrest in his home since he was released from prison in September 2010 after serving a jail term for ‘creating a disturbance’ with a protest against forced abortions. Continue reading »

Tags: censorship, China politics, internet, protest Posted in China | Permalink

EMs gain on euro relief

October 27, 2011 8:29 am by Stefan Wagstyl

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Emerging markets are joining in the general surge of relief sweeping world financial centres on news of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis deal.

Even though European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet warned this was no time for complacency as he left the Brussels summit, investors judged that the worst might be over – and plunged into risk assets, not least EM equities. By 08.15 London time, the MSCI EM index was up by 2.15 per cent, and the MSCI EM eastern Europe index by 3.8 per cent. Continue reading »

Tags: equities, eurozone Posted in Global | Permalink

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beyondbrics

Daily Archives: October 27, 2011

Brazil Inc: not cheering for a weak real

EM markets wrap: bouncing back

Tycoons square up over Russian rail

Kazakh miners’ gold dilemma

Croatia: corruption trial overshadows EU accession

Poland: media mogul draws first blood

Poland: struggling to tune in to TVN

India’s super rich get a little poorer

China: growing taste for European m&a

New York headlines

Hong Kong finance: job vacancies

India: Rahul-flation

The ‘barefoot’ lawyer and the web

Further reading: Chinese red tape

EMs gain on euro relief

Global equities macromap

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